Her Story
by Yosamu
Summary: At her birth she was cursed by her father. Whisked from the battlefield, she would be raised by three of the greatest ninja of the time. When she is put on a gennin team, it only slows her down, keeping her from reaching her true goal. FemNaru.
1. Prolouge

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto; I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

_Her Story_

_Chapter 1_

_Prologue_

On the night of October 10th, the sky was a dark stormy color. Shouts of pain rang in the air.

A large monstrous demon crashed through trees, his tails flailing about through the sky, his mouth salivating. His blood red eyes shone with malice and hate towards the shinobi on the ground. As he leaped into the air letting out a fierce roar there was a cry.

"Hold it off till the Yondaime gets here!"

Their honorable Yondaime Hokage was sitting in his office looking at the demon. Near by was a crib with a small blond child contained inside. The child's brilliant blue eyes looked at him in anger. She knew that the demon was attacking, but that he was doing nothing. As he turned to look at the small girl he glared at her.

"What right do you have to look at me hatefully? You have killed your own mother! What reason do I have to let you live!?"

"Calm down Minato." The wise voice of the Sandiame Hokage was soft beside him. "If you're that angry with the child why not sacrifice her to the demon? You could seal it within her with that seal of yours and then meet up with your departed lover." He looked at the blond child as well and chilled his eyes. The child had taken away the woman that was sunshine to the city.

"I can tell the people you wanted her to be seen as a hero. But they probably won't see her as anything more than Kyuubi. Then she would be attacked and paid back for taking her mother's life. Would you like that Minato?"

Seeing the blond Hokage nod his head Sarutobi sighed. "Prepare your seal and summon Gamabunta. Then take her and seal Kyuubi into her."

Minato nodded before disappearing in a yellow flash to prepare himself. He turned his head as he heard the door squeak open. Danzo, Jiraya, and Tsunade stood there in front of him their eyes wide. Jiraya shook his head disappointed.

"I can't believe you Sarutobi-sensei. You would ruin the life of a child because her mother died in childbirth. If anyone should be able to see past this it is you. Maybe Orochimaru was right. You are a fool, nothing more, nothing less."

Tsunade nodded her head in agreement, "We should have left with him when we had a chance Jiraya. Now it's too late, and we can do nothing to stop their stupid plan, I feel that if we protect that child, your student will hunt us down Jiraya."

The Gama-sannin nodded his head and sighed before looking at his senior. "You should be ashamed of yourself Sarutobi. You should be truly ashamed." He looked at Danzo, "Even Danzo agrees. This is inhumane and cruel. I can't believe you or Minato would ever be capable of something like this." He glared at his sensei with full forced anger and just then a yellow flash appeared.

"Jiraya-sensei? Tsunade-sama? Danzo? What are you doing here?" The confused Hokage looked at his three elders in bafflement, and it only grew when Jiraya leveled a glare his way.

"I can't believe you Minato. Sacrificing your daughter because your wife died in childbirth. That's low; I don't even want to imagine how you came up with this. But mark my words right now. We will come back Tsunade and me, and when we do. We'll take her back with us. Even if that means betraying Konoha. We won't let you kill her spirit." With their final words the two sannin walked away their postures clearly disappointed.

Danzo eyed the young girl sitting in the crib. She looked at him and her eyes showed sadness. As if she understood what was being said about her. Danzo himself was amazed, the girl was not even a day old, and she was sitting up like she was born to do it. Sighing he looked at Sarutobi and Yondaime. "Understand now, Sarutobi, Minato. You do this to her, and let her be hated. You will lose your greatest asset. Have none of you noticed yet? Children do not sit up on their own till quite a while. Look at this child, is she lying down?" The two men looked over; the girl immediately fell backwards and seemed to glare at Danzo. His eyebrows rose in amazement.

So young and already understanding the duty of a ninja. He stepped backwards, "I will take my leave now. Enjoy ruining your future." With a last look at the blond girl he turned and left the room.

Minato looked at the child lying in the bed and glared before lifting her up. He nodded to Sarutobi and took off out the door. Landing atop Gamabunta's head he looked down into the young girl's eyes. Her eyes were wide and blue like his, but her skin coloring and hair texture was that of her mothers. She had soft straight hair and was quite pale. He could see streaks of red hair in the blond child's hair. As they came up on the demon before them he was shaken by the ferocity of it.

The red eyes were deep with malice and he could smell the fury. As the demon roared again he heard a call from the ground, "The Yondaime is here! Fall back! Fall back!"

He watched his shinobi fall back towards Konoha and began his hand seals. As he finished he called out, "_Shiki Fujin!_" As a bright white flashed Gamabunta disappeared from under him and he fell, his child in his arms. As he thudded to the ground he looked at her finally. His eyes shone with hate as he watched her. As she opened her eyes he was shocked. Her eyes weren't the same blue as his anymore. They were a blue-gray color. A mix of his and her mothers. He shut his eyes as he felt his life leave him and sighed.

"I hate you, Kinmuku." He had named her, with his last breath, his chest froze and he heard the cry of his ninja.

"Hokage-sama!"

They never noticed the dark shadow slipping past and gathering the young girl from their dead Hokage's arms and fleeing to the forest.

As the shadow came to a stop it crouched and placed the child into the arms of a man. Bowing low he said softly,

"Her name is Kinmuku. Namikaze Uzumaki Kinmuku."

The man nodded his head. "Yes, fitting don't you think, Jiraya, Tsunade?" The two sannin stepped out of the shadows and Tsunade bent over the child. She lifted her up and held her in her arms.

"I suppose it is Danzo. I suppose it is."


	2. As she Grows

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto; I do however own this story, any OC's within, and this plot line.

**Main Pairing: **Probably Ita/Kinmu or Gaa/Kinmu

_Her Story_

_Chapter 2_

_As she grows_

_Previously_

_"I hate you, Kinmuku." He had named her, with his last breath, his chest froze and he heard the cry of his ninja._

_"Hokage-sama!"_

_They never noticed the dark shadow slipping past and gathering the young girl from their dead Hokage's arms and fleeing to the forest._

_As the shadow came to a stop it crouched and placed the child into the arms of a man. Bowing low he said softly,_

_"Her name is Kinmuku. Namikaze Uzumaki Kinmuku."_

_The man nodded his head. "Yes, fitting don't you think, Jiraya, Tsunade?" The two sannin stepped out of the shadows and Tsunade bent over the child. She lifted her up and held her in her arms._

_"I suppose it is Danzo. I suppose it is."_

_Present_

Kinmuku grew up surrounded and protected at all times. But as protected as she was, she was not sheltered. She was taught from the very begging of her life. The instant she could stand she was learning to walk and to run. And when she spoke her first words rules and regulations were instantly drilled into her head. When she learned the rules she was taught about chakra, how to manipulate it, what it was, and how to use it.

Her kaa-chan and otu-san, they were dead. She could still remember the hateful words her father had said to her. From a few moments picked and recorded into her mind by Kyuubi. She could remember her mother, as her mom had died she had told her at least five times that she loved her. And had died holding her with a smile on her face. No one but the doctor knew, and as far as she knew, he had been killed in the Kyuubi attack.

She knew about her fuzzy little friend, they had taught her just a small bit of history, what was important. When they talked about Kyuubi they didn't sugar coat it and told her flat out that she was the container for the Kyuubi no Yoko. Tsunade-oba-san and Jiraya-otoji had comforted her when she cried.

But Danzo-jiji had helped her the most. He had told her that while her father had hated her, she had a mother that loved her. And that if her mother had been alive she would have killed Minato for even thinking about doing it. That had cheered her up considerably and the next day they had begun training her body.

Her oba-san was intent on making her the strongest Kunochi around, and at a young age had taught her about her super-strength. Kinmuku had learned it fairly quickly and was soon learning in the healing arts and ninjutsu. When they began to teach her about genjutsu they were surprised at her struggle with it. And that when she finally got it, she was very cruel in working it.

She was four now. And already she was trained in the killing arts. She hadn't taken a life yet, Tsunade and Jiraya refused to let that happen and surprisingly Danzo was set on not having her kill until she understood the value of a human life. The young blond smiled as she recalled these things.

"Kinmuku! What are you doing? You should be training!" The voice of her otoji came from the side and she sighed.

Her eyes, the unique crystal blue-gray were brought out by her hair. She hadn't seen herself in a mirror for some time, but from what her oba-san said, she looked very much like her mother.

"Gomen otoji! I'll get back to work now!" Her voice was light and melodious and as she turned back to the log she had previously been beating she let her mind wander again.

Otoji, Oba-san, and Danzo-jiji said that she would have to go to Konoha soon enough. She would have to join the academy to become a ninja. And while she would not be a loyal ninja to Konoha, Jiraya-otoji had suggested that she ask the Daiymo to let her learn under his guards and become a guard of his. When Jiraya had visited the Daiymo on one of his trips he spoke to him about it.

While the Daiymo had agreed to it on the condition that she would always be loyal to Hi no Kuni, he hadn't been happy about hearing what Konoha had done. And soon enough not only was she training under her otoji in ninjutsu, her oba-san in chiyu geigei, and Danzo-jiji in genjutsu, but she was training under one of the Daiymo's retired guards in Taijutsu.

By her seventh birthday she was well to gennin level. And while she was on a short walk at the insistence of her tutors she had come across a shinobi on patrol. He was young, that much she could tell.

He was probably about chest height with her otoji and had black hair tied back into a short pony tail. Some of his bangs hung in his face bringing out the onyx eyes the held a home there. When she stopped in front of him she could see surprise in his eyes. His face though was cold and neutral. "What is a child like yourself doing out here?" He asked her cautiously, she could see him reach for a kunai from his holster and she held up her hands.

"Calm down, I'm no enemy of yours unless you make me an enemy of yours. Besides, I'm no more a child than you." She cocked her head and seemed to ponder his appearance for a moment. A look of recognition passed over her features as she looked at him. "Otoji told me about you, you're Itachi. Uchiha Itachi. Konoha's youngest ANBU, and if rumor is correct, soon to be youngest ANBU Capitan." She scrutinized him again, and to be truthful, Itachi seemed a little unsettled by the seven year old child.

"You don't look like much to me. I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could get you to at least admit that I'm good. Anyways, I should probably go. Otoji, Oba-san, and Jiji are probably worried by now. Gotta go." As the young girl turned to leave she heard the thirteen year old boy stir.

"What is your name little child?" She turned her head and her blue-green-gray eyes meet the crimson red ones of the Sharingan.

"Hm...To tell or not to tell...tough decision that one. I don't think I'll grace the question with an answer, especially not to one of those whom posses the Eye of Theft." The sun-kissed golden haired child turned and headed back to where she began. She could still sense Itachi on the edge of her senses and when she felt him disappear she let out a sigh. She mumbled a couple of words to herself that unknowingly reached the ears of the Uchiha prodigy. "Stupid kid. Thinks he knows what the real life is like."

Itachi had made sure to follow her when she refused to give him her name. Kinmuku hadn't learned yet how to compress chakra, nor how to tell the difference between getting farther from the target and them compressing their chakra. Her words had undoubtedly confused the Uchiha heir to no end and set himself even more diligently to follow.

And follow her he did. All the way to a small home in a clearing that was surrounded by beauty. The house itself, while small, held a tranquil peace and beauty about it. It had two stories, and was surrounded by a small stone wall. He could see over it quite easily from where he sat and was amazed. Inside of the small wall was a sea of flowers of all colors imaginable. And in the center of it was a small pond and he could see a small platform that went half-way into the pond. As he looked at the house he was amazed once more. It was a white house, but not startling white. The edging was done in black and it had a painting on the side of the house. It was a large black and silver flower that alternated colors on every other petal.

As he sat staring at it he unknowingly stopped compressing his chakra and let his presence be known. "Otoji, Oba-san. I meet Uchiha Itachi on my walk, and it seems that he has followed me. Shall I take care of him?" The question startled Itachi out of his admiring of the house and cursed himself. And he looked up in shock when he heard a voice call out to him.

"Uchiha Itachi! You might as well come out now that we know your there! If you run we'll catch you!" The young prodigy looked up and started. The man yelling at him was none other than the legendary Gama Sannin Jiraya, and next to him was the Namekuji Sannin Tsunade. He gulped despite himself and jumped out of his tree.

Calming himself he walked up slowly to their wall and passed by it. As he passed the flowers he couldn't help but notice a single flower stand out above the others. He stopped and turned to look at it amazed by it's color. It was a flower that seemed to match the young girl's eyes perfectly. He noticed Jiraya and Tsunade watching him warily and he looked at the flower and he stepped back before continuing to walk over to the two Sannin.

"What are you doing out her Jiraya-sama?" He watched the older man carefully and sighed in relief when the man motioned him in. "I am here for Kinmuku. As is Tsunade. What are you doing her Uchiha Itachi?" The man's eyes regarded the young ANBU coldly and he shuddered.

"I was on a patrol when I meet that young girl over there." He motioned to Kinmuku who was sitting in the chair across from him. "I asked her for her name but she didn't answer me so I followed. I'm going to assume her name is Kinmuku? You were talking about them earlier." Jiraya nodded his head, "If I may say so, she doesn't look much like 'pure gold' to me." He raised a brow as the young girl smirked.

"I may not be pure gold, but I'm more golden than you are pretty boy."

Jiraya and Tsunade exchanged a look before rolling their eyes. "Uchiha Itachi, I'm asking you now, not to mention us to Sandiame Hokage. If you can not follow that request then as a Sannin I forbid you from mentioning Kinmuku to him. He hates her for something he shouldn't and if I find him or any other ANBU on our door then Konoha will lose its last two Sannin. Understood?"

Itachi nodded his head and looked back at Kinmuku only to see that she had gone. "Where did she go? I didn't even hear her leave." His face showed his bafflement and the two Sannin laughed hardily.

"She's probably upstairs playing shougi with her jiji. Helps her with strategies." Itachi nodded his head. "I'll take my leave then. Ja," He disappeared out their window and Jiraya turned to Tsunade.

"I think I'm gonna have to start doing that. The gaki already does it. We should too." Tsunade nodded her head. "I think I'll do it as well."

Unknowingly, Uchiha Itachi had just started the very thing that would drive the Sandiame Hokage so far into insanity, and the Sandiame would never know.

_One year later_

_The House_

Kinmuku stood outside of her home. She was eight years old now, and it had been exactly one year since that faithful night that she had met Itachi. Soon after meeting him they began to become friends. Whenever he could manage to, he would come by their house. And every time he would contribute to Kinmuku's training. While the two worked together more and more they never noticed themselves become closer together.

But the three adults of their home could see it so easily. A bond of friendship that could never be broken. It was one that was sacred to every person. The first friendship was one that was almost impossible to break. And they could see this bond so clearly that they had no doubt that it would suffer through so much.

It was on that night, that Uchiha Itachi came to their home. Covered in blood and with blood shot eyes. Almost immediately, Kinmuku was next to him. "What's wrong Itachi?" Over the year they had stopped calling each other with anything attached and respected one another, "Kinmuku...I-I killed them. My whole family. They're dead..." He looked up into the eyes of the young girl who was trying her best to comfort him.

She looked at him before nodding. "Oba-san. Get some of the special tea; you know the one for my nightmares." She looked down at Itachi and smiled. "What did they do to make you kill them Itachi?" Itachi looked at her and sighed. He leant his head against one of the support beams on the porch. "They were attempting to overthrow the balance of power. My cousin and best friend asked me if I was for or against. I was against of course." He said and looked at her watching her reaction. Her face remained neutral as he spoke and he sighed inwardly.

"When I killed him I got this burning in my eyes, I had awoken the most powerful form of our Sharingan. The Mangekyo Sharingan. The power of it corrupted me and I ended up not only killing my family because they were trying to over throw the power balance, but for some reason, I wanted to test myself. I don't know why Kinmuku." He looked at her and for the first time his eyes were pleading. As if begging her to understand what he did.

He watched as her shoulder shook and he could soon hear a slight chuckle coming from her. Her head lifted and she looked him in the eyes. "So, you were corrupted by a dark power in your body? Me too. Guess I don't have to feel as lonely anymore." She smiled at him and he looked back at her confused.

"What do you mean Kinmuku?" She sighed before chuckling again. She opened her mouth to answer him but just then Tsunade exited from the house with a kettle of tea.

"There you go Kin-chan. Make sure he doesn't have too much. Don't want him stuck being loony forever now do we?" She grinned at the two children before winking at Kinmuku and retreating back into the house. Kinmuku smiled at the antics of her oba-san and poured some tea into a cup and handed it to Itachi. Pouring one for herself she sipped it slowly. Seeing Itachi hadn't touched his yet she sighed.

"Drink it. It'll help you ease the pain." Itachi looked at her for a moment and shook his head. "I don't need a crutch to ease the pain."

"Ah, but every broken leg has to have a kind of support to help fix itself. That is what this is, I drink this tea everyday. For a nightmare that haunts me from the day I was born. Because my crutch isn't for a broken leg, it's for a broken mind. Your's will be easier to fix than mine. A couple of days of this tea and you'll be able to fix your wound and move on in life." She smiled sadly at him and motioned for him to drink the tea.

He did so, albeit reluctantly and soon enough his cup had emptied and he looked at her sadly. "What nightmare could cause you to have to drink this everyday?" The tea was strong, and already the events of the massacre had hazed albeit to allow him to think more about what was going on now. He saw her smile sadly and set her cup down beside him.

She leant against the post opposite of him and said in a sad tone of voice, "My nightmare that haunts me every night. That would be seeing the dying light of my father's eyes going out and with his last dying breath cursing me while he named me. 'I hate you Kinmuku', those were his last words, and it was directly after he had ruined my life." She sighed and shook her head sadly and looked at him.

"I'm sure you know about how Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village eight years ago? Yes, well. Yondaime didn't kill it. He sealed it inside of, his own flesh and blood. And he did it only because of the suggestion of Sarutobi, Sandiame Hokage. All because my mother died in giving birth to me. But my mom loved me very much. She told me at least five times that she loved me and held me with a smile on her face as she died. Yet both my father and the Sandiame hated me for taking her life."

She sighed sadly and shrugged, "But what am I to do about it. Nothing now, Kyuubi resides within me. And he helped me become who I am now. I haven't really been the child my mother fell in love with since then. I'm changing, ever so faintly. Don't you think so Itachi?" She turned her head and smiled at him. The young Uchiha's eyes widened and watched her tell him her story. He shivered as she smiled at the end and said sadly. "I'm sorry Kinmuku."

"It's not your fault Ita-chan." She sighed and slipped her eyes closed missing the brief shock that passed his face. "Neh, Ita-chan? What about your brother? Is he dead or alive?"

"Sasuke?"

"Hai."

"He's alive. I put him in a genjutsu before I left," he shuddered and closed his eyes and soon found a sudden warmth flood over him. He let his eyes open and found Kinmuku sitting in his arms.

"Was it with your new eyes that you did this?" She asked looking up at him with her beautiful blue-gray eyes. He shuddered and nodded, "Hai. It's called Tsukiyomi. It was recommended by that power in my mind." Kinmuku nodded and turned around so that he couldn't see her face.

She sighed and leaned back into him before letting her eyes slip closed. "Night Ita-chan." He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow before sighing. He turned around and nudged her. She opened her eyes somewhat annoyidly and growled, "Yes?"

"Much as I love sleeping on the ground, there is a perfectly good hammock, couch, and house behind us." He remarked amusedly. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. She closed her eyes again muttering, "Hammock." Itachi sighed and shook his head. She was an insistent little girl. Picking her up he set her on the hammock and was about to leave as well when he noticed a tug on his wrist. Her eyes where open again and she glared at him.

"You're staying here, at least for tonight. The tea will kick in soon enough and you'll need to sleep. Better to sleep here with two Sannin who can protect you in case they need to than for you to drop to the ground out there and taken by a hunter-nin." Itachi sighed and climbed up on the hammock beside her "Night, Kinmuku-chan," he said softly before casually falling asleep alongside her. As the two floated off to sleep they never noticed three eyes watching them.

"So, how much do you want to bet that they'll get together Jiraya?" Danzo's voice was amused as he looked out on the two children on the hammock.

"I'll bet that by the time she's a gennin they'll be together. 1,000 Ryo on that. What about you Tsunade?" He turned to look at her and she sighed. "I'm not going to ruin any possible chance of that actually happening so; I won't be joining in on the bet."

Danzo nodded, "Alright then, Jiraya, I'll meet your thousand ryo that they'll get together sometime around or after she becomes a chuunin level shinobi." Jiraya nodded his head and looked out at the two sleeping teens again.

"If someone else comes in. Then I say we give the money to Tsunade. Fair game?" Danzo nodded and they shook hands. Jiraya smirked and looked out. "I think I'll win Danzo. No harm meant. They just seem to be made for each other." He nodded to them, and the other two looked out on them. In his sleep Itachi had wrapped an arm around Kinmuku, and they looked comfortably set next to each other. Danzo sighed, "Too true Jiraya. Too true."

The next morning came all too soon and when Itachi woke up he instantly noticed the lack of warmth from Kinmuku. He opened his eyes and saw that she wasn't there and when he sat up and stretched he heard a light laughing sound. "Morning Ita-chan." Itachi's eyes widened slightly to see her already changed and about. She was sitting on the porch railing in front of the hammock watching him. "Ya' know something Ita-chan? You talk in your sleep. But wanna know something even stranger? Usually even after I drink my tea it just prepares me for the nightmares and helps ease it. I didn't even have one last night." She smiled at him.

Itachi looked at her, "Why do you think that had to do with me?" He could see her hunch her shoulders, "Why wouldn't it? You've always made me feel safe Ita-chan. Usually on the days you come by, the nightmares aren't as long and aren't as bad. When you don't come they're usually real bad." She looked up at him her eyes sad and happy at the same time, "Last night, I felt truly protected. Thanks Ita-chan." She smiled at him and for the first time he noticed how pretty her smile really was.

It light up her face and made her seem more child like than when she frowned. He sighed and shivered. "I have to leave soon Kinmuku-chan. I'm a missing ninja. I can't stay here, it'll only endanger you." Her eyes lit up in anger as he said that, "You don't think that oba-san, otoji, and jiji won't protect you? I'm being trained by them. And one of the Daiyamo's guards. As soon as I become a ninja I can become a guard of the Daiyamo. If you asked to I'm sure we could get him to let you do it too. If you stay here at least for my academy day's I can be happy. Please Ita-chan?"

Itachi looked at her sadly, "I can't. It'll endanger you and your family." He watched her as fury and sadness welled up in her eyes. She turned away from him and stormed to behind the house. He knew that she was going to take out her anger on the training stump behind the house. But despite knowing he had never seen her actually fight. Deciding to look at her and see he crept up to the top of the house and settled down to watch her training. She was literally tearing the stump apart in her anger. As the poor stump finally shattered with a severely deadly punch she collapsed sobbing. He watched her sadly and watched as Tsunade came out of the house. Jiraya and Danzo stood not far off watching as Tsunade attempted to calm her down.

As Itachi got ready to leave he turned around to come face to chest with Jiraya. "Where do you think your going Itachi?"

"I have to leave. Hunter-nins will soon be sent out. I can't endanger you and your family." He looked boldly into the man's eyes only to see amusement.

"You think that the hunter-nin's will find this place? Do you really think that?" He let out a laugh and collapsed onto the ground in tears. The old man, Danzo seemed fairly amused as well. "I'll have you know young Uchiha. The only way this place can be found is by the Sharingan. You only found it because you had your Sharingan on when you were following Kinmuku. And now only you and your brother are left. Your brother is Kinmuku's age, and he won't be able to find it till he activates it. Not even the greatest genjutsu specialists can find this place."

"And why would that be Jiraya-sama?"

"Because. During one of Kinmuku's particularly bad episodes Kyuubi surfaced for a short time and told us how to keep his container safe. The old fox doesn't want to die. And in exchange for her being protected he gave us this genjutsu. Only the Sharingan and demons can see through this. You're the only Sharingan user besides Kakashi left. And Kakashi would never imagine that you would find _this_ place. So few know of it. Myself, Tsunade, Danzo, the Daiyamo, a few of his guards, Kinmuku's parents, and Kakashi's gennin team."

He let out a laugh, "You are perfectly safe here Uchiha Itachi. Please, for Kinmuku's sake. Stay here, if only for during her academy days. It will keep her sane and happy."

Itachi looked at Jiraya nervously. "Fine. But if any hunter-nins find this place, and they are looking for me. Then I will leave. Okay?" Jiraya looked at him with a, 'If they find us I'll eat my shoe' look. "Even if they find us. No, you can't leave. We'll kill them before they can get out word."

Itachi growled but said nothing. Turning he saw that Tsunade had manage to calm Kinmuku down and she was sitting in the middle of the clearing meditating.

"You have four years here Itachi. Don't let them slip away from you." He turned his head quickly to look at Jiraya only to see the older man down next to Kinmuku telling her how Itachi would stay during her academy days. He looked around for the source of the voice and his eyes rested upon Danzo.

"We have saved her Uchiha Itachi. Saved her from a life of hatred. Do not make us believe that she can be hated even when she is protected."

As he uttered his words a breeze blew by them and Itachi's eyes flickered down to Kinmuku who had stood up and had started to head inside.

"I suppose we should prepare you a room no?" Danzo's voice was amused and he groaned inwardly. _'These next four years are going to be hard as hell I'm sure.'_


	3. Academy Days

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, I do however own this story, any OC's within, and the plot! If you steal it, I will come and find you. I am a cannibal soo...I'll eat you. And so will Jammy Wham. Yeah, he's a cannibal too. What now?

**Main Pairing: **Probably Ita/Naru or Gaa/Naru

Ahh! I'm soo happy! I got so many reviews, and so far, Ita/Naru's winning. Gaa/Naru will more likely than not have a lovely sibling rivalry. Yeah, a rivalry. Scary neh?

_Her Story_

_Chapter 3_

_Academy Days_

_Previously_

_"You have four years here Itachi. Don't let them slip away from you." He turned his head quickly to look at Jiraya only to see the older man down next to Kinmuku telling her how Itachi would stay during her academy days. He looked around for the source of the voice and his eyes rested upon Danzo._

_"We have saved her Uchiha Itachi. Saved her from a life of hatred. Do not make us believe that she can be hated even when she is protected."_

_As he uttered his words a breeze blew by them and Itachi's eyes flickered down to Kinmuku who had stood up and had started to head inside._

_"I suppose we should prepare you a room no?" Danzo's voice was amused and he groaned inwardly. 'These next four years are going to be hard as hell I'm sure.'_

_Present_

Kinmuku was overjoyed as her otoji told her that Itachi would stay, at least until the academy was over. She smiled at the deliver of the news and thanked Tsunade for calming her down. Standing up she stretched and rolled her neck.

"Ne, otoji?"

"Hai, gaki?" Jiraya asked tiredly.

"When is Shin-onee-san coming back?" Shin was her other trainer. The one who was training her to be a guard for the Daiyamo. She hadn't seen him in a while, and her training was still not finished.

Jiraya sighed and slipped his eyes closed in concentration. "Um...I think he said he would be back on your birthday this year, and would leave after leaving you with your new training for him." He opened his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Your birthday is in about, four months, and you'll be entering the academy next week... So, you'll have a bit to do. We'll get Danzo to cast that genjutsu on you that Kyuubi gave us." Seeing the look on her face he smiled, "Yeah, your foxy friend gave us more than one. And it'll keep your hair, change your eyes and height, and you can go into town and buy some things. We'll use it on Itachi too so he can get some clothes."

Kinmuku nodded her head enthusiastically, "Hai, hai otoji. Now, will you come in with us or will it just be us?" Jiraya sighed, "We'll see about having Tsunade go in. I don't want to die, so, she'll probably go. She'll be using genjutsu too. Now, be happy, the genjutsu Kyuubi provided will only be seen by demons. So you're safe. We'll have you go in tomorrow alright gaki? Don't cause too much trouble."

Rapping his knuckles on her head he smiled as she glared at him. "Get used to it gaki." Turning away he motioned Danzo down from the roof and began speaking in hushed tones. Seeing Danzo nod and remove a scroll from his pocket she smiled. "Oi! Otoji!"

The sudden sound caused Jiraya to nearly drop the scroll handed to him, "What gaki!?"

"Your a pervert right? Can I call you ero-otoji?" Jiraya looked at the young girl bug-eyed. "Where did you hear that from!?"

"Tsunade-oba-san of course. She told me that we get all our food from the profits of your books and that they were extremely perverted. So, are you a pervert?" Her eyes were wide and innocent but he could see the spark of mischievousness in the back of her eyes.

His eyes settled into a glare as he looked at her. "I'm not a pervert." He mumbled and looked at the ground. Danzo was standing there, smirking beside him. "Yes, as I recall Kin-chan, he's always proclaimed himself to be a _super pervert."_

Kinmuku's eyes went wide as she stared at her uncle. "No. Way." She looked at Tsunade who nodded her head. "Hey Ita-chan! Get down here! I gots something to tell you!" The said ANBU mumbled something unintelligible and made his way down from the roof. Walking over he looked at the young silver haired girl. "Yes?" His voice was drawn out in his annoyance. She smiled brightly at him and said, "If you let otoji pervert you," She paused her eyes opening and settling into a glare as she looked at him, "I'm gonna hurt you bad for becoming a pervert. And otoji for perverting you. Got it?"

Itachi let out a chuckle and Jiraya started to back up slowly and un-noticeably. "What could you do to me Kinmuku?" His voice was highly amused and he had a smirk on his face. But it dropped the instant he saw the smile on her face. She backed up and raised her foot. Bringing it back down lightly on the ground Itachi's eyes flew open as a small crater formed beneath her foot. "Imagine that, only with me swinging my leg down, full force. On what Oba-san threatens to remove from otoji quite often."

Itachi backed up slightly and looked around for Jiraya. He found him, several hundred feet away, being threatened not so nicely by Tsunade, and he then heard just what Kinmuku was speaking about.

"IF YOU PERVERT THAT KID I SWEAR JIRAYA! I WILL CASTRATE YOU IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAY POSSIBLE BY REMOVING WHAT MAKES YOU A MAN WITH A DULL RUSTY KUNAI! UNDERSTOOD!?" Itachi truly felt for the man, he really did. Looking at Kinmuku he saw that she had turned back around and begun to beat upon another training post that had found its way into the ground.

"Hey, Kin-chan, why don't you start working in your whip with your taijutsu?" The voice was Danzo's and Itachi's head whipped around to look at him at the mention of a whip. He watched Kinmuku wide eyed as she removed a coiled up whip from around her arm. "Who taught her to use a whip?" Itachi questioned the older man, "Her tutor, Shin. He's the one helping her in the training of becoming a Daiyamo guard. She aspires to be one of his most faithful guards. So she intends on getting shinobi training, passing graduation, staying on a gennin team till she becomes a chunnin and then leaving to join the Daiyamo's forces."

"So her tutor found that she is a very flexible person, he merely gave her a weapon that fits her personality. And they've already agreed that once she has mastered the whip, she can begin to teach Tsunade how to use it." A shiver fought its way up the man's spine and looked at Itachi. "If you ever intend on getting involved with her, I'd be very wary. Soft a soul as she is, I've seen her when she gets angry. It's truly frightening. Jiraya was very bad off, lucky we had Tsunade here."

Itachi turned to watch the girl that had seemed to learn to use the whip like an extension of her arm. She spun and leapt through forms flying around the field and striking at the training post. His eyes widened in surprise as the whip curled around the log and as Kinmuku tugged on the whip, it fell to pieces.

Kinmuku turned around and she smiled brightly, "Jiji! Was that good!?" As Danzo nodded she leaped up and let out a whoop of victory. Spinning away she bolted off into the forest. A glance was exchanged between Jiraya and Danzo. When Kinmuku came back she had a silver fox trailing behind her. "Jiji! Otoji! We got another one!" Walking quickly towards Danzo and Jiraya she motioned Tsunade over. Kneeling down next to the fox she motioned for it to lay down on its side.

"Her hind haunch is infected. The cause was this deep gash on her haunch," She motioned her hand over a long gash that looked to be scabbed over and pussy. "She also has a limp in her front leg, I think her leg might be fractured." Tsunade nodded her head, "Good, now do you want to do the leg or the infection?"

"I'll try the infection first if I can't do it I'll do the leg. I know I can do that one." Tsunade nodded her head and stepped back. She nudged Itachi and said quietly, "Watch closely." A green glow encased her hand and she lowered it over the wound. She placed her hand upon the wound before slowly pulling it back up. A nasty looking scab and puss combination was floating above her palm. Pulling a small bowl she placed it inside before closing up the wound. She let out a sigh and moved to the leg. "Oba-san, can you get me something to splint her leg real fast?"

Tsunade nodded and quickly returned with a small piece of wood and placed it against the fox. As Kinmuku focused the chakra to her hand again she let her eyes slip shut and a purplish tinge entered her green chakra. As she lifted up her hand from the leg she opened her eyes and smiled. Slumping forward slightly she sighed and shivered. The fox stood up shakily and let out a yip of gratitude. Leaping at the silver haired girl she licked her face with glee.

Kinmuku smiled, "Alright! Mashiro, calm down. Your welcome." She pulled the fox back from her and smiled at the fox. The amber eyes of the fox glittered and she leapt into the girls lap. Curling up she yawned before slipping into a light sleep. Itachi, Jiraya, Tsunade, and Danzo's eyes opened. "That's interesting."

Kinmuku looked up, "What is jiji?"

"Well, none of the foxes you've ever brought stayed after you healed them. Let alone fall asleep right in your lap. When she wakes up, ask her if she wants to stay with us."

Kinmuku nodded her head and lifted the fox lightly into her arms. She smiled over her at Itachi and swept past him and into the house. Tomorrow they would be going into town. And if what her foxy friend had done was any indication, she had a feeling that she would have another friend coming along with her. She laid the fox down on her bed and backed up slightly. As she turned to exit out the door she almost ran into Itachi.

Backing up again she looked up at him, "Hai, Ita-chan?" Itachi looked down at her and cocked his head to the side, "Where did you learn to heal foxes like that?" He heard light laughter and looked at her in confusion, "What's so funny?"

"Oba-san is a great medic-nin. You can't expect me to not learn something about healing." Her eyes were shinning and she turned back to look at Mashiro. Grinning she saw the vixen open her eyes and blink drowsily at her. She leapt up and trotted over to her.

"Okay then, another question. How did you know its name was Mashiro?"

A sigh, "She Ita-chan. _She._ How I knew her name? Simple, she told me. It's in my blood to understand her Ita-chan. That's all." She smiled up at him before brushing by and leaving the house once more.

_'This is going to be a long four years if she doesn't forgive me.'_

_Next Day_

"Oi! Gaki! Get up, you gotta go to town today!" Jiraya's voice boomed from the stairs and Kinmuku groaned, rolling out of bed she sighed. Looking at the young silver fox next to her she poked her in the side. "Come on Mashiro. Time to go to town." She was greeted with the sound of what sounded much like a fox groan, giggling into her hand she dressed herself.

She pulled a crimson red shirt that went orange at the top over her head before slipping into a pair of night black BDU pants. She pulled on a pair of black combat boots with chains dangling from the top of them. A black vest settled on her shoulders, the pockets lined in a crimson red. Two black arm bands slipped onto her wrists and a black choker snapped around her throat. A gold nine-tailed kitsune hung as a pendent from the black choker. She placed an earring at the top of her ears and snapped them into place.

Motioning the vixen to get up and follow her, which happened reluctantly, she stepped out and disappeared down the steps. As she stepped outside and seated herself in the hammock she laid back with the vixen curled up on her chest. Scratching the kitsune's ear she smiled as a foxy purr escaped. Her eyes slipped closed and a soft wind picked up rocking the hammock back and forth gently. Her eyes slipped into sleep once more as she rolled to her side and let the fox settle just along her stomach.

About an hour later Jiraya and Itachi stepped out of the house. Seeing the golden haired girl sleeping on the hammock Jiraya smiled. "Kinmuku-chan. Time to go, are you ready or not?" He heard a groan and her eyes slipped open. Sitting up she stretched and yawned before lifting the fox up along with her. "Come on Mashiro. Time to go." The fox slipped one eye open before sighing and jumping out of her arms. Stretching out and yawning she rubbed herself along her leg and yipped.

Kinmuku grinned and turned to Jiraya. "Alright Otoji. Are you going to put a genjutsu on me and Ita-chan?" Jiraya nodded, Kinmuku smiled and knelt down to the silver fox beside her. When she turned around Itachi had grown taller, his hair had gotten shorter, and his eyes were a deep crystalline blue. She sat down for a minute and let out a giggle. He had also lost the stress marks from his face.

"Neh. Otoji, you should probably make his hair a different color. Or you should make his hair really short so no one even begins to compare the differences." Itachi glared at her from the corner of his eye and she giggled again. "Ita-chan. Your probably an S-Class, kill on sight, missing-nin. What do you expect?" Itachi sighed and looked at Jiraya.

"Alright, go ahead and make my hair shorter." Jiraya nodded his head and repeated the seals. After the release of the chakra Itachi ran his hand through his now short, spiky hair.

Kinmuku's change was very slight, she had only gained a few pounds and her height had decreased a minimal amount. Itachi sighed and looked at Jiraya. "Are you coming to town with us or are we going alone?"

The Gama Sannin sighed and shook his head, "I won't be going. Tsunade will be though. She's just getting herself put in her own genjutsu. She won't let me do her so she'll be helping you get your clothes as well as some different clothes for Kinmuku." Said girl let out a huff. "Otoji. I have enough clothes, so I won't look like all the rest of the wannabe shinobi in the academy what's your point?" Jiraya sighed and shook his head.

"Girl, if you go in looking like that. Someone will wonder if there is a war coming on." He grinned as she pouted and mumbled something sounding oddly like, 'I do not look battle ready.'

Itachi flicked a glance between the two and then looked up to see Tsunade, whom had exited the house, coming towards them. He nodded his head towards her, "Tsunade-sama." The sannin nodded her head, "Itachi," She turned her head and looked at Jiraya, "Jiraya. We're leaving. Stop harassing Kinmuku-chan so that we can go." Jiraya pouted, "But it's so fun to tease her!" He whined.

Itachi had to restrain a laugh, yes that's right, a laugh. Just the two sannin acting so differently than they were told to act like, it was enough to make anyone laugh. Kinmuku rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Jiraya.

" Can we go now oba-san?" A nod from Tsunade led to her bolting forward with the silver vixen limping behind her. Itachi's eyes flicked over to Tsunade, "Is she always like this when you go to town?" Tsunade nodded her head and it was just then that Itachi noticed what she was wearing. She had become what looked to be about a thirty year old woman with dark gray nearly black hair. She wore something like what she usually did, only instead of Gambler on the back of her green jacket she had the kanji for Kitsune.

Itachi shook his head and asked innocently, "Should I have something with a fox on it as well? You two seem to have things with foxes all over them." Tsunade grinned, "You think her fox pendent and foxy friend are all over?" She laughed "You haven't really seen her room then have you? Just wait till you get in there!"

Itachi was left behind dumb founded before he raced forward after the two females. When he reached them Tsunade had one hand on Kinmuku's shoulder restricting her to a walk. He caught the ending of their conversation, "...old bones can't handle this kind of abuse."

"So you admit you're old oba-san?" She was punched in the head and sent crashing down before standing up grumbling. "Let's just get to Konoha and back home alright?" Tsunade sighed, "Don't you want to see where you'll be going to school?"

"No, I like surprises. You know I do." Kinmuku crossed her arms and walked alongside Tsunade as Itachi caught up with them. Soon enough the red gates of Konoha came into view and they stepped past. Looking like civilians they weren't stopped and continued on to a store marked 'Higurashi's'. As they stepped inside Kinmuku was almost instantly drawn to the black and red clothing. She had pulled out three pairs of night black BDU pants, two night blue pairs of BDU pants, along with a green pair. She pulled a black shirt down that had a red fox head on the front.

She also picked up a red shirt with black flames racing up it, a shirt that was the same only with the colors flipped and had a blazing red kanji for 'nine' in the center. She pulled two of both down and headed over to grab two black mesh shirts. Walking over to Tsunade she grinned. "Finished Oba-san." Tsunade rolled her eyes before going through the selections and nodding. Walking over to the racks of shirts herself she pulled down a white shirt with red and black flames on it. On the back was the kanji for 'Kyuubi' in a bright red. Handing it to her she nodded.

"Done for you, now for Itachi." She turned to see that the boy had already picked out his own selection of BDU and combat pants along with a couple of mesh shirts and some plain black and blue shirts. Tsunade huffed and turned away before saying, "Now we need to get you guys some weapons. Kin-chan, we have to get you some new kunai and shuriken along with a sword for your training when Shin comes." They placed the sets of clothes to the side before going through the kunai and shuriken.

Suddenly the sound of a soft tinkling bell could be heard and the three turned their heads to see the door open with the Sandaime Hokage and Uchiha Sasuke. They could see a man step from behind the counter grinning, "Hokage-sama. Uchiha-san. It is good to see you. What is it that brings you here?"

Itachi stiffened and turned to see that the other two had done the same. Kinmuku had stopped halfway from picking up a kunai and stood frozen. "Ita-chan, oba-san, call me Rin, don't speak the name given to me." It was hissed between clenched teeth and Itachi saw she had placed her hand back to her side. She began to stroll through the store and brushed past both Sasuke and the Hokage without looking up. When she brushed past Sasuke he looked shocked and awed.

Far as he knew, no girl had ever done that to him. Looking up he saw that the Hokage had narrowed his eyes and turned away.

"Oba-san," Her voice was soft and she turned to the older woman inside the store. The woman looked up, startled, she had a set of kunai in her hand and placed them on the counter. Walking quickly over to the young girl she bent down to listen. "Hai, Rin-chan?"

The girl whispered something unheard by both Hokage and child. They could see a grin spread over the woman's face as she stood up and stretched. "Neh, Higarashi-san!" The woman called. The man came striding out of the forge inside the shop and looked at her.

"Hai?"

"Is it possible for someone like her," she motioned to the girl beside her, "To get a whip that the length is chakra controlled? She'll be needing one pretty soon, she's entering the academy, and it would help her greatly in training." The man's eyes widened considerably as he thought of what the whip would look like.

"Well, that would depend on if she has any skill in whip working already."

A cruel grin seemed to spread over the old woman's face. "You better believe she does. I wouldn't even consider getting her a chakra controlled whip without her having knowledge of one before hand. So, how about it?"

"I'll need to test her skills outside. Is that acceptable for you?"

The silver haired girl quickly nodded her head. "Yep. Let's go oba-san, Ita-chan." She tugged on the two's sleeves leading them outside. When the Hokage and Sasuke followed them out she made a face of annoyance and the little silver fox beside her growled.

"It's alright Mashiro. Just calm down." She patted the fox's head gently and let her arm fall out straight against her side. A whip un-coiled itself from around her arm and fell into her awaiting palm.

"Higarashi-san? How would you like me to show you?" The man pointed to a pole sitting not far off and the girl grinned manically. With a leap forward, the log never had a chance.

Within moments there was marks all over the log and as the whip wrapped itself around it she tugged it gently and managed to pull the log apart.

"So, do I pass?" She turned to the stunned man who nodded, "Hai, with flying colors. What is your name, so that I may order your weapon?"

There was a pause and the girl looked at Tsunade and Itachi before saying softly, "Rin. Just, Rin." He nodded before stepping inside supposedly to take down the order. Sasuke who had watched with stunned eyes walked over to her. "Were did you learn how to use a whip like that?"

No answer, "Rin right?" The girl looked at him suspiciously before nodding her head slowly, "Hai."

"How did you get that fox?" She glared at him before quickly answering, " 's in my blood to be able to do so."

"That's pretty cool though. I hear fox's are rare and yet you have a fox, a silver one at that!" He looked enviously at the young vixen and then looked up to the Hokage's face. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. The old man strode forward and grabbed the young girl's arm.

"What is your full name?" His answer was an angry glare from the little girl and a quick removal of his hand from the woman.

"Don't touch her." She snarled, lifting the girl and handing her to the boy, who placed her on his back. He turned away and motioned for the fox to follow him. "Come on, we should go pay for this stuff Ita-san." She looked at Itachi expectantly and he nodded. "Alright. Higarshi-san, we have some things we came to pick up. They're inside, shall we go get them?" After a nod the old man followed Tsunade and Itachi inside, leaving behind a shocked Sarutobi and broody Sasuke.

_'Ita-chan? She's lucky she's got an older brother that cares for her, and she's entering the academy soon, so maybe I can see her in school...' _Sasuke seemed to smile for a second at the thought of the girl being in the same class as him. He turned and looked up at the Hokage, "Ano, Hokage-sama? That girl, they said she was going to the academy soon, is she gonna be in my class?"

The Hokage settled into a deep thought, there was one new student coming in, their name was Byakuya Rin. So that was probably her. "She might be, but I'm not sure."

With Kinmuku, Itachi, and Tsunade the group was smiling broadly. They had paid for their things and were headed home.

"Neh, Ita-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think I'll get stuck in the same class as your otouto?" She cocked her head to the side as she asked and looked up at Itachi.

"You might be, don't let him get to you though. He can be very annoying at times." He smiled as she laughed and when they came upon the house Itachi activated his Sharingan. Then a thought struck him.

"You know, I never really thought about it till now. But how can you guys see the house without a Sharingan?" He watched as smirks formed upon their faces.

"Two reasons really. One, we cast the genjutsu, and two there is a special pendant that we have that stops the genjutsu. We need to get one for you when we get home. Won't do for you to be able to see it only when activating your Sharingan." Tsunade nodded her head, "Kin-chan, why don't you show him what we use."

Said girl grinned widely and pulled a necklace out from under her shirt. When she pulled it out though, another came with it. She attempted to hastily stow it away before he saw it but he caught it in his hand and looked closely at it.

"Isn't this the cursed stone of the Hokage's? Why give it to her? Hasn't everyone that's worn it been killed by it?" He looked up suspiciously at the once again blond woman. Her golden brown flecked eyes stared back unflinchingly.

"She won it from me when she did something I never thought she'd be able to do. She swore to protect those precious to her and protect the Daiyamo at all costs. Did so in front of the ol' Fire lord himself, along with her trainer Shin." She watched as the blonde haired girl flushed and yanked the necklace from Itachi's grasp and tucked it back under her shirt. She pulled forward the other necklace. On it was a small key in which was engraved,

_Those who stand tall, shall not fall._

Itachi cocked an eyebrow at the engraving, "What does that mean?"

"We shall stand for what we believe in, no matter what we must go through. At least that is my saying, Oba-san's, Otoji's, Jiji's, and yours will say something different. Oba-san's says 'We will always love, those who love in return.' Otoji's I believe says, 'Live life to the fullest, don't regret a thing.' And I'm not sure about Jiji's but I think his says, 'Those who think, may survive, but those who fight, will die with Honor.' Don't know what yours will say. But I'll know when I give you the key." She grinned at him and looked at Tsunade.

"I bet his'll say something like, 'Kill or be Killed.' Or 'Just because you hate, does not mean you do not love.' What do you think Oba-san?" Itachi seemed a little confused by her statement and turned to look at Tsunade.

"I'm not betting against you. You always win. Your probably right, more likely than not it'll say one of those two things." She shook her head and smiled. "Home sweet home neh?" They had arrived in front of the house and once they foot on the grounds Itachi deactivated his Sharingan. Kinmuku almost instantly disappeared up to the house, the silver vixen following closely on her heels.

Itachi followed after her and when he entered he heard Jiraya call, "Oi! Uchiha-gaki! We got a room prepared for you. Come on up and see!" Itachi headed up the stairs albeit reluctantly and entered his new room. He set his bag of clothing and weapons on the floor and looked up wide eyed. The room, while small, was large enough for him to live comfortably. A medium sized bed was set out on black carpet. The walls were a dark blue color and there was a slightly larger than average window with a clear view out to their garden. He smiled and looked up at Jiraya. "Arigato Jiraya-sama." He took in the room again and noticed that the blankets on the bed had a small Uchiha fan just on the edge of the blanket and was easily able to be over looked.

"Why is it that you decided everything to be the colors that they are?" Jiraya cocked his head in confusion, "Figured you'd like these colors. If not, I could always let you switch with the gaki. I'm sure you'd love the color in her room." His voice was deeply sarcastic and Itachi looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Jiraya looked at him in shock.

"You've never been into her room? Well, I'll have to fix that. You'll crack up in her choice of room color."

Jiraya and Itachi headed out of the room and went down the hall to a wide open door. When Itachi poked his head in his eyes widened. The room itself was pretty spacious and had bookshelves and scroll shelf's lining the lower half of the wall. Itachi cocked an eyebrow as he saw Kinmuku sitting atop a bed the same size as his reading a scroll.

"Konichiwa Gaki. What are you reading this time?" The scroll lifted up but Kinmuku's eyes never left the scroll. As Jiraya squinted at the label and he grinned. "Advanced Ration jutsu. Little advanced don't ya think?" He heard a growl from the silver fox curled up next to her. Lifting his hands up he made a calming motion and stepped into the room. "Just wanted to show the Uchiha-gaki your color scheme. Thought his was a little off."

Kinmuku merely nodded her head and Itachi took in the room. The walls were a crimson red color that alternated to black and silver every time it changed to a new wall. The carpet was a light gray almost silvery color. Her bedspread was night black and in the center of it was a large yin-yang symbol. A bed table was next to her bed and on it was a picture that had been taken almost half a year ago. It had himself and Kinmuku, Jiraya, Tsunade, and Danzo. All of them were sitting in a laid back position and laughing as Tsunade got ready to beat the tar out of Jiraya.

He grinned when he also noticed a picture of Kinmuku and himself, they were sitting on the hammock and Kinmuku had fallen asleep and he had been stuck over night because Tsunade wouldn't let him wake her up.

Kinmuku lifted her head up finally and snapped the scroll she was reading shut. Walking over to one of her scroll shelf's she placed it alongside a set of yellow scrolls and turned to see Itachi staring at the pictures on her nightstand. She smiled and walked over before poking him in the side.

"You really shouldn't zone out Ita-chan. It's not very smart." The Uchiha let a chuckle escape him and he nodded, "Hai, hai, Kinmuku-chan." The girl grinned widely, "Good, cause I won't be around to pull you out of it for 6 hours a day coming this upcoming Monday. Now, time to go to bed. For me anyways. I have to get up bright and early for training. So both of you. Out." She pushed the two males out of her room and shut the door before flicking out her lights and watching as the sun set and as the moon rose high into the sky.

"Good night, Tsuki-sama."

_Academy_

_8' o clock_

_Monday morning_

Kinmuku had slipped into sleep a little late the night before. She let out a groan as she looked at the entrance to the academy. Only 8'o clock in the morning and already she was ready to sleep again. Sighing she hung her head and headed inside. Knocking on the door of room she heard an 'Enter' and slid the door open.

"Is this Umino Iruka's classroom?" She received a nod from the brown haired teacher and stepped in quickly. She slid the door shut behind her and bowed. "Gomen, I'm a new student were you informed of my arrival?"

The students in the classroom were stunned, as was Iruka, _'So young, yet so polite. Wonder who taught her.'_ Iruka smiled at her and looked at his roll, "Ah, your Byakuya Rin correct?" He received a nod, "Alright, you can go and sit beside Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke, raise your hand." The girl had already turned around and Sasuke noticed it was the same girl from the weapons shop.

Raising his arm he waved it loosely and he noticed that the girl narrowed her eyes before seating herself in the chair next to him and scooted away from him. He cocked his head and then noticed the glares directed at her from the other girl's in the classroom. He also saw her visibly slump forward and rest her chin on her hand and watched Iruka lecture.

When he finished she raised a hand and Iruka smiled. "Hai, Rin-san?"

"Why do we talk about history? Knowing what the Shodiame and Niidiame specialized in won't help us in the middle of battle. Maybe knowing rules set from ancient times that are still in place, but not things that won't help us in battle. We are training to become shinobi and Kunnochi in our own right correct Umino-sensei? Then why not learn that from the beginning? We need to learn to survive, not learn something that won't help us."

Iruka and the rest of the class, for their part, looked at the girl in complete and utter shock. "Nani? It's the truth. Nothing but it. Knowing useless information that no one is going to remember won't help. If your about to die, knowing that the Shodiame Hokage specialized in Mokuton jutsu won't save your life. Knowing how to stop the blade coming at you will." She crossed her arms and set her head down on them as she leaned on the desk.

"Umino-sensei, you should tell the Hokage he needs to fix the training regimen." The group of students and teacher had their eyes wide open in shock and Iruka and Kinmuku had a thought run through their heads.

_'This is going to be a _long_ four years.'_

_Four Months later_

"Rin! Wake up! You shouldn't be sleeping in class! Just for that! Name what two jutsu's the Yondaime Hokage was famous for along with the name he earned in the Iwa/Konoha war!"

The genjutsued girl (so she looks as she did when she went to the store) sighed and yawned stretching out. "Konoha's no Kirriro Senko. Known for creating A-class ninjutsu the Rasengan along with Hirashin no jutsu, the second of which only he has ever been able to perform and allowed Konohagure no Sato to best Iwagakure no Sato in battle. Sensei, didn't I tell you in the beginning that this crap won't help me, or anyone else, in battle?"

The girl stretched and sighed, "Anyways, I want to go home." She stood up and glared, "Can we go now? There's only five minutes left of class anyways." Iruka glared at the girl.

"Fine, feel free to go." The silver haired girl smiled and lifted up her backpack off the floor. Slinging it over her shoulder she quickly stepped down the stairs and left the room. She could hear clatter from behind her and sighed. The other students were so loud. She looked up at the ceiling and stopped when she heard footsteps following closely behind her. She turned her head quickly to notice the younger Uchiha following behind her.

Letting lose a glare she stepped forward and continued quickly out of the academy. She could hear him fruitlessly try to keep up with her and she smirked. Stepping out of the academy she left the lot quickly as she could and disappeared off the grounds. Just as she stepped off the grounds Sasuke was halfway out. She grinned widely when she noticed a crystalline-blue eyed boy with short black hair. He was standing next to a tall red haired man and she leaped towards them.

"Ita-chan! Shin-onee-san! What are you doing here!?" She leaped into the arms of the tall red haired man and he smiled.

"Came to wish you a happy birthday, what else Rin-chan?" The girl smiled and looked at Itachi and cocked her head. "Why'd you come too Ita-chan?"

"Needed to show Shin-san how to get here. He's never been inside remember?" The girl had a look of remembrance on her face and she nodded. They finally noticed the small boy watching them from afar.

"Ita-chan, Shin-onee-san. Let's go home okay?" The two males nodded and she jumped down from the older man's arms. Or at least tried. He merely grinned and placed her on his back. He looked over to Itachi, the grin still on his face.

"Race you back there?" Itachi's face also held a grin, he nodded. "Ready, set. GO!" Kinmuku's voice rang in the two male's ears and they leaped forward leaving a cloud of dust from were they where standing. The wind whipped through the hair and faces of Shin, Kinmuku, and Itachi. They came to a sliding stop in front of their house and Shin allowed Kinmuku to slide down. They all walked forward and headed up and into the house.

When they entered Kinmuku nearly froze. The table was set with all her favorite foods on it, and Tsunade, Jiraya, and Danzo were standing just on the edge of the table and grinning widely. Mashiro was sitting in a chair at the head of the table and her eyes glittered happily.

She let out a yip and jumped out of the chair before making a bee line to Kinmuku. The fox jumped into her arms and watched Shin closely. Her tail waved back in forth in a warning and seemed to freeze when Kinmuku patted her and grinned at Shin.

"Shin, this is Mashiro, Mashiro, this is Shin-onee-san. Don't bite him." She grinned as the vixen stopped twitching and jumped back down from Kinmuku's arms. The three of them walked forward towards Jiraya and Tsunade grinning broadly.

"Well Gaki. Happy 9th. Anything you'd like to do?" Jiraya was smiling at the girl as was Tsunade. Both were thinking of going into town for the festival. As the girl looked up to Shin and then to the other two adults she sighed. "Whatever you want to do. Long as I can go visit Okaa-san's grave at least once tonight. Let me pray for her. Please?" The two sannin nodded their heads before turning to Shin and Itachi. "Would you two like to come into town for the festival tonight?"

Itachi nodded his head ever so slowly and looked to see Shin quickly nodded his head. "But before we go, I have a special gift for Gin-chan." He walked over to his bag, which had been sitting by the door, unnoticed. Reaching into it he quickly removed a beautifully designed box, and a scroll. Looking at the young girl he smiled, handing her the box he motioned for her to open it.

As she took it, she looked awed at the beautiful designs upon the box itself. There was a silver Lilly crafted into the box and there was a lone black spot on each white petal. She smiled, yin. Opening the box she noticed there was a piece of white cloth covering whatever was inside. Upon the silk was a black flower, this time each petal had a lone spot of white, yang. She grinned a shit eating grin before carefully removing the silk and placing it on the table.

She removed a four foot long, sheathed katana. That explained why the box was so long. She looked up at Shin her eyes wide. He motioned for her to continue and she took in the sheathed sword. The sheath itself was quite beautiful. A long golden nine-tailed fox was running along the sheath and the tails curled around it.

She unsheathed the sword and gasped. It was a black sword, it was so black that it could not reflect any light, the hilt of the sword, a fox head that turned to look like it ate the sword, and the handle of the hilt seemed to mold into her hand. She looked at her sensei, her mouth open.

"Shin-onee-sensei. I can't accept this. It's so beautiful. Why give it to me?" The older man smiled at her and knelt down in front of her. "You deserve it, you have worked long and hard to keep your promise to Shijimi-sama. This is not only a present from me, but Shijimi-sama himself. Be honored to have it."

The silver haired girl lowered her head and re-sheathed the sword. When she looked back up she had the widest grin on her face. She leapt at the older man and took him into a fierce hug.

"Arigatou Shin-onee-sensei!" After releasing him she opened up the scroll. Inside was a fully detailed version of the kenjutsu that the older man had promised to teach her. Smiling down at her he said softly, "My own gift to you. Make sure you whip everyone's but Kin-chan." The man's smile was soft and he patted her on the head before turning to Jiraya and Tsunade.

"Well? Shall we go into town to celebrate?" This was met by two shit-eating grins from the two sannin and two smaller grins from Kinmuku and Itachi. The two nodded their heads and the family of odd-balls set out.

Before leaving Kinmuku pulled six flowers. Each was a different color. And each one was unique. There was a purple flower that was a deep royal color, a sky blue with golden yellow patches on it, a white lily with a black center and a black lily with a white center. There was also a blue-gray rose, and the most unique of them all. The black and white flower that alternated black and white between petals, the center of the flower was the same color as Kinmuku's eyes, a blue-gray color. She lifted her head up as the sun began to set.

"Oba-san, we should probably hurry up. We want to get there before night-fall right?" Tsunade nodded her head and the group of Danzo, Shin, Itachi, Jiraya, Tsunade, Kinmuku, and the silver vixen Mashiro all took off at high speeds. As the group reached Konoha a silence fell over them and they headed over to the graveyard. As they passed the tombstones in front and headed towards the back they came upon as small stone marked,

_Uzumaki Namikaze Kushina_

_"Lover, Mother, Wife, and shinobi."_

_Former member of Uzumaki no Kuni._

The group of people backed up and allowed the young girl to go up to the stone. She lowered herself before her mother's grave smiling sadly. "Hello, okaa-san. This may be the first time I've come to see you, and I'm sorry. But I brought flowers, I think they'll help you go on if you haven't passed yet. I brought six, one for each time you told me you loved me, and one for when you smiled as you died. I thought you'd like them. A flower of royalty, of which you were. A flower to remind you of otu-san. Two flowers for peace, yin and yang. A flower of your eyes, and a flower of myself. I grew them just for you. Please, forgive me for never coming to see you till now. I truly am sorry Okaa-san. And I didn't bring a flower for otu-san, no matter how much he hates me, I should still have brought one for him."

The girl sighed and slumped down, "I brought a couple of friends with me too. The one with me right now is someone I've only recently met. Okaa-san, meet Mashiro. Mashiro, Okaa-san." The girl patted the fox's head and let her eyes close. Sitting cross-legged in front of the stone she looked at her dysfunctional family. She smiled sadly and let out a soft call.

"Oba-san, Otoji. Jiji, onee-sensei. Ita-chan. I'm done now. You can come over if you want." She stood up slowly and looked around to see that Itachi was beside her looking down at the stone. He bent down and murmured a quick prayer before standing back up and hugging the golden-haired girl.

"It's alright to cry when your sad sometimes Kinmuku-chan." The girl only smiled back sadly, "It's hard to cry sadly when you are not sad. My mother may be dead, but if she hadn't died, I would never have meet all of you. Sad as I am that I never got to know her, it was her time to go. So she had to go." She shrugged and stepped away from Itachi. She backed up to let the two sannin say their respects and allowed the other two to say hello before they left to lift up their spirits at the festival.

As they walked along the stands watching children work to win things they all seemed to quietly enjoy themselves. They walked around talking to people not really paying much attention to anyone. That was until Kinmuku, running from Itachi after having poked him in the side, ran head first into someone. As the two fell to the ground she stood up mumbling about people and needing to learn to dodge kids running around. She looked down to see Sasuke down on the ground and she groaned. When Itachi ran up behind her and scooped her up she let out a squeal before laughing. She stuck her tongue out at him as he cackled before poking her in the stomach and throwing her to Shin, who had been expecting it.

The man expertly caught her before setting her on the ground and she ran back towards Itachi leaping at him never paying a mind to Sasuke who had finally stood up and was watching the family interact with envy. There was a deep chuckling and the girl and boy stopped their poke war to glare at Jiraya, Tsunade, Shin, and Danzo. All were chuckling good heartily at the two having a play fight.

The young silver haired girl crossed her arms pouting, "Oba-san, Otoji! It's not funny! Besides, Shin-onee-sensei and Jiji, you shouldn't be laughing! It's mean! You know how Ita-chan and I are, Otoji and Oba-san I can understand. But why would you guys laugh at us?"

"Because Rin-chan. It is simply funny in a way that should not be used. You two aren't usually this hyper, did you have chocolate before you came here?"

The girl seemed to shift uneasily on her feet and lowered her head, "Maybe." Her reply was swift and her body language clearly gave away her guilt and Sasuke sighed.

"Dobe, you know you're horrible at hiding body language. A good behavioral reader could read you like an open book. It's quite sad." The voice was cocky and arrogant and the girl lifted her head to glare at the boy.

"None of your business Sasuke. Leave us be to go and brood. We have important matters to attend to. Don't we Ita-chan?" The girl turned and smiled foxily at the boy who merely shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever you say Rin-chan." The girl grinned and grabbed his hand pulling him along. When she heard Sasuke following them she abruptly turned around to glare at him, "What Sasuke?" Her voice was curt and rough as she glared at him.

"Are you even going to invite me to join in on your game?"

"Nope, we don't like stuck up yarou's do we Ita-chan?"

The boy looked at her with a look that clearly stated, 'Don't get me caught in this'.

The young jinchuruki sighed and shook her head. "Why don't you get one of you fangirls to play a game with you? I'm sure they'd love a chance to play any kind of game with you. So stop being a stuck up bastard and take it." The girl glared one last time before grabbing Itachi's hand and pulling him away back towards the dysfunctional family.

Sasuke continued to follow wide eyed. "No way! They're creepy I-" The silver haired girl whipped around glaring, "Would you please stop following us? I'm sure that you remember that you remember that day in the weapon shop. I still have my whip too. Shall I use it on you?" Her eyes were set in a glaring position and she leaned forward her hands on her hips. Itachi merely let out a laugh and ruffled her hair.

"Come on Rin-chan. You want to say hello to your otu-san as well correct?" The girl immediately stopped glaring and nodded her head she leaped away from Sasuke running back towards their family and past them shouting, "Come on!"

The group of people looked at each other before slowly setting off after the little girl. Itachi however took off after her as well. They were slowly heading to the Hokage monument, as they reached it they waited below, waiting for Tsunade, Jiraya, Danzo, and Shin. Mashiro who had been following them the whole time sat down panting beside the girl and boy.

She laid down beside Kinmuku's feet and slipped her eyes shut. She felt the young girl sit next to her and began to stroke her. "Ita-chan, you wanna sit down? Knowing Oba-san, Otoji, and Jiji like I do. They won't be running, and I'm sure Shin-onee-sensei is whining because they aren't."

Itachi chuckled and smiled at her, "Isn't Shin a retired guard of the Daiyamo? Why does he seem so young?"

Kinmuku shifted uneasily and sighed, "He is not able to perform like he used to. When he was guarding Shijimi-sama one day, they were attacked and he was stabbed in the chest. He managed to survive it but he had complications that did not allow him to return to service. So when Otoji went to talk to Shijimi-sama, he was back in good health and eager to get out again. So Shijimi-sama allowed him to teach me."

Itachi nodded his head. That would explain it. Looking at the silver haired girl he sighed and rolled his eyes, "Why did you decide to run anyways?"

"Didn't want to stick around Sasuke-yarou. Plus were going to see otu-san, he doesn't need to know who he is. He'll make a big deal out of it and probably end up telling everyone. Despite how quite he is usually when we find something out about someone, and it's really good, it is because of Sasuke. So I'd rather him not come to see otu-san with us." The girl sighed and looked up as she heard the chatter of her family coming steadily towards them.

She lifted her arm and waved to them, "Oba-san, Otoji! Over here!" She stood up and swept Mashiro up in her arms placing her on her shoulder. She lifted her arm again and the four adults noticed her and headed over. Itachi looked behind them, and sure enough, Sasuke was following behind them. He glared at the boy and nudged Kinmuku. Sasuke smirked at her as she glared at him.

"What?" It was innocently asked but there was a dark look in his eyes. Kinmuku glared at him again and looked at Itachi. "Ita-chan, can you think of anything to get him to stop following us?" The boy shook his head and she sighed.

"Alright then," Sasuke smirked thinking he had won, "Mashiro, would you do the honors?" The fox seemed to grin and she leaped down from Kinmuku's shoulders and headed towards the boy. Her fangs were barred and her throat released a growl. Her mouth opened as she bared her fangs and Sasuke began to back up.

"Call it off!" He glared as the girl only seemed to smile, "Go away and she won't follow." Sasuke glared at her but as the fox began to snarl he turned and fled.

"He really is getting annoying." She sighed, "Come on Mashiro!" The fox turned around and quickly leaped back onto the girl's shoulder and curled around her. The two turned to see Itachi had joined with the rest of the group and were waiting for her. She headed towards them and they headed up Hokage monument. When they reached the top Kinmuku stepped forward towards the head of the Yondaime.

Lowering herself she allowed the winds that howled around her to pull at her hair. She sighed, "Otu-san, I know you hate me. I hear you every night, watch the light leave your eyes, and hear you curse me. But I can't bring myself to totally hate you. You may hate me because Okaa-san gave her life to bring me into the world, but she held me as she died. Smiling and telling me she loved me. Please forgive me for never coming to visit you, and I didn't even bring you flowers today."

She sighed and lowered her head, "But I left a flower of you on Okaa-san's grave," The winds seemed to slow a little, gentling slightly, "It is a blue of your eyes, and has splotches of yellow the color of your hair. I would have brought you a flower to remember Okaa-san, but I wasn't sure if you'd forgive me for doing that." She let her eyes close and she sighed, "But I'm living with your sensei, his teammate, and Danzo-jiji. But don't be disappointed in me please, I'm going to be a guard for the Daiyamo. I get to become it when I reach chuunin level. That's a ways away though, I've only just entered the academy."

She smiled as the winds seemed to slow even more, "And Uchiha Itachi is living with us as well, he's been very helpful. And before you get mad otu-san, he killed his clan. But they were trying to overtake the city. And he's better now, he laughs and smiles a lot. We've helped him not to become a brick wall." She smiled as the winds settled to a soft cool breeze. "I have to go, Oba-san and Otoji want to talk to you as well. I'll come see you next year Otu-san. I'll bring flowers next time. Promise."

The girl stood up slowly looking over the city and turned away motioning for Tsunade and Jiraya to go say their prayers. As the two stepped forward they smiled at the gentle wind that had replaced the furious wind from earlier. As they said their prayers and stood up Kinmuku smiled.

"Shall we go celebrate now?"

The group let a grin spread through them as they all left and headed towards the festival. They played game after game winning in Kinmuku's case, loosing in Tsunade's case. They stepped up to a dart stand and Kinmuku grinned as Itachi stepped up. He got three darts and hit three balloons with pin point accuracy. He grinned as he won and was handed a fox plushy before handing it to Kinmuku.

She smiled back at him and stepped up as well. She was given three darts and she managed to hit two balloons with each dart. She was handed a weasel plushy at her request and handed it to Itachi.

"There ya go Ita-chan." She grinned as he looked at the weasel strangely and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, whatever." The group looked at the time and sighed. It was time for them to head home, 10'o clock. They smiled and began to head home for a well deserved rest. As they walked through the forest and into their home they smiled.

The group allowed their genjutsu's to drop revealing themselves and they all trudged up into the house. Kinmuku merely collapsed on the hammock stretching out yawning before rolling to her side, letting Mashiro curl up next to her and wrapped her arm around the fox plush and the live fox, before falling into a gentle sleep.

The family smiled among themselves as Itachi crashed outside on the couch. The family smiled a knowing smile among themselves before settling into sleep themselves.

The events of the nights prayer's would be repeated, every year, on that one day. Only instead of no flowers and whipping winds atop the Yondaime's head, there was flowers to remind him of his wife, and gentle caressing winds.

It was only on the day three years later, that it would change.

_Three Years later_

_October 9th_

"Alright kids. Tomorrow is the annual Kyuubi festival. However this years will be a little bit different. There is to be a scavenger hunt, you see. The Sandiame Hokage, upon visiting the Hokage Monument top. Has noticed that someone is leaving very unique flowers for Yondaime-sama. At his wife's grave, there are also unique flowers as well. Hokage-sama would like you kids to find either the person leaving the flowers, or flowers of the same color and kind. There is a prize that will be rewarded later on."

Iruka smiled as the group of soon to be gennin erupted into talk, he coughed catching their attention once more, "You are allowed to work in groups if you think it will help you. But then the prize will be split among you. Please be careful when looking, and do be watchful." The bell let loose its annual joy for students as it released the classroom.

All of them quickly left except for a group of nine kids. There were the two loners, and then the large group of friends.

Inuzuka Kiba, heir to the Inuzuka clan, and a loud brash child. Hyuuga Hinata, heir to the Hyuuga clan, but shy and quite. Aburame Shino, heir to the Aburame clan, silent yet thoughtful. Akimichi Chouji, heir to the Akimichi clan, rounded and loving to eat delicious food. Nara Shikamaru, heir to the Nara clan, and laziest child ever seen in the family. Yamanaka Ino, heir to the Yamanaka clan, loud, brash, and crushing on Uchiha Sasuke. And finally Haruno Sakura, first generation ninja, that was loud, weak, and rivaling Ino for Sasuke's affections.

The two loners, Uchiha Sasuke, brooding heir to the non-existent Uchiha Clan, and Byakuya Rin, the smart-alecked but quiet girl, that nothing was known about. The group of seven friends walked over to the lone Uchiha, "Hey Sasuke-kun! Want to join us in searching for the flowers or the person?"

The Uchiha looked coldly at them, seeming to say no, before rolling his eyes, "Fine." Ino and Sakura were amazed, shocked, and happy at the same time. The other five were merely shocked. The group turned to seemingly ask Rin but the girl was lifting up her pack onto her shoulder and getting prepared to leave. As she stood up Shikamaru walked over.

"Would you like to join us as well Rin-san?" The girl looked at him with cold eyes before replying, "Iie. I already know the person and the flowers. I don't intend on giving them away." She walked out of the classroom without acknowledging the shocked looks of her classmates.

As she exited the academy she could hear the rushed running of her classmates running after her. Kiba was first out, "Dobe! Why don't you tell us?" Kinmuku whipped around glaring at him. "I already told you that I won't. Now go away."

She turned again and left the academy grounds leaving the group of seven behind her, Sasuke hadn't run out after her demanding to know. She rolled her eyes and let her eyes slip close for a moment in weariness. When she opened them again she sighed before heading home. After her first year in the academy Itachi had stopped coming to get her. Not knowing what to make the genjutsu grow into. The boy was now 18 but still living with them.

She smiled despite herself, she had learned to use her large whip extremely well, and her kenjutsu form was flawless. Her smile widened as she thought about her kenjutsu. She knew three now, the one from when she got the first got her sword, and one from each birthday after.

Looking up she saw a cloud hovering slightly over the sun and she stretched. As she headed through the forests she could hear loud attempts at following her. She sighed before disappearing into the trees above her and sat waiting to see the people who had followed her. As she sat there she could begin to hear voices and she nearly groaned.

The eight idiots from the academy were following her! She let out a growl and waited for them to stop beneath her confused. Akamaru, Kiba's nin-dog, was sniffing the ground and barking confusedly.

"What do you mean she just disappeared Akamaru?" Kiba asked incredulously. The dog barked something and Kiba sighed. "Apparently she just disappeared. The trail ends here." Kiba said sadly to the others. "I really wanted to find out were she lived, and if she knew the person who placed the flowers, who it was." He sighed and the group let out a collective sigh as well. Kinmuku's features settled into a scowl and she jumped down in front of the whole group her back towards her house. Her scowl quickly turned to a glare as the group turned towards her and began to head towards her.

"Don't come near me." She snarled her eyes were alight with anger and her glare scared the other soon to be gennin. She was releasing a small amount of killer intent in her glare.

"I told you I wasn't going to fucking tell you who placed the flowers. So why attempt to follow me?" Her voice was low and threatening and Sasuke deemed himself to answer.

"Dobe, why don't you just join us and tell us."

"Why pray tell, would I do that Sasuke-yarou." She ignored the two screeches from the banshees deeming it un-worthy of her attention.

"You'd get a cut in the prize that Hokage-sama is offering."

"The Hokage can shove it up his old monkey ass. I don't care about a freaking prize. If I did care I would just tell him on my own baka." She glared at him again and she could hear footsteps coming from the direction of her home. There were two sets actually. She glared at them again.

"Just go away. I don't want you here." She turned around and stalked away heading home and almost let out a scream of annoyance when the group continued to follow her. As she saw Itachi coming towards them along with Mashiro and let out a sigh of relief when she saw he had put up an older version of his genjutsu. His hair was still short and spiky, he was merely taller and slightly wider. She grinned as he came up with her fox beside her and she turned around to glare at the group of academy students.

"Go. Away. I've said it three times already!" The let Mashiro growl at them and as soon as the fox stepped forward Sasuke took a step back.

"I-it's that f-fox." The group's eyes widened and their heads whipped around to see a fear stricken Sasuke. He was shivering and stumbling backwards.

"Ah, so you remember Mashiro do you? Good. She's only gotten bigger and nastier when it comes to assholes like you!" Akamaru seemed to shiver seeing the two females in a rage. He backed up slowly whining to Kiba to step back. Kiba ignored him.

"What's your fox gonna do? I'm sure it can't beat a nin-dog like Akamaru! Come on Akamaru, let's give them a taste of their own medicine!" When he turned around to look at his nin-dog he was shocked to find him cowering behind Sasuke.

"You forget dog. Fox's are crafty. Deadly too. Just go away and leave us alone alright. We don't want to see you around here anymore." The rest of the group backed up at her ferocity and eyed the man standing next to her. He still hadn't said a word, but he was glaring at them coldly.

"Just leave." He finally said. His voice was cold to them and he turned to the two silver haired females. "Come on Rin-chan, Mashiro. If they follow us I'll take care of them." He turned around and pulled Kinmuku along, Mashiro followed still turned around snarling at the academy children. When they were far enough away they saw the fox stop and turn around running after its master.

The group of eight began to mutter among themselves. Sakura and Ino were over next to Sasuke who was still watching were the fox had taken leave. "Sasuke-kun. What did that fox ever do to you?"

Sasuke shuddered deeply and let out a deep breath he had been holding. "Three years ago at the Kyuubi festival. I ran into Rin and her brother, the man with her. I was following them around and they didn't like it. They'd had this fox with them, and when I wouldn't leave, Rin got really angry. The fox reflected her anger, it started to come towards me and it was snarling and its fangs were showing. They wouldn't call it off until I left and it kept coming towards me so I finally ran away. I was only nine."

He shuddered and seemed to try to calm himself down. "They were going to see her father's grave, he must have died in the Kyuubi attack. I was trying to follow her to find some things out about her, but they kept coming onto me. So I couldn't."

He sighed, "But I guess we could stake out the graveyard tomorrow night and see who they are." The group nodded. It was agreed, tomorrow, not only would they win the prize, they would find out the mysterious girl's parentage.

_The following night_

_Kyuubi Festival_

Kinmuku and Itachi traveled through the festival. Jiraya and Tsunade had gone up to pray for the Yondaime, Kinmuku and Itachi would be heading there next. Her hands held two bundles of flowers. One was for her mother, they had all the same flowers as the first trip, only there was more. And the other hand held a similar bouquet, only instead of the alternating black and white flower it held her father's favorite flower, a golden yellow rose. She noticed a group of people standing around the graveyard and she shrugged. Walking through the gates she walked to her mothers grave and placed the flowers down.

"Okaa-san, I'm back. Ita-chan came with me this time. Oba-san and Otoji are up saying hello to Otu-san. We're heading up there soon too, but we wanted to say hello to you first." She smiled as she looked at the grave marker and then up at Itachi, "Wanna say hello Ita-chan?" The man smiled slightly and bent down next to her.

"Hello Uzumaki-Namikaze-sama. Your daughter has been well, I hope you are peaceful wherever you are." He turned his head and smiled slightly at Kinmuku before standing up and helping the younger girl up as well.

"Shall we go see your father now?" The girl grinned nodding her head and the two took off towards the Hokage monument. As they reached the top they were happy to see that it was only Jiraya, Tsunade, and Danzo upon the head. Shin was at home, waiting for them to return after saying their prayers for their family.

Kinmuku stepped forward into the soft wind and settled her flowers atop his head. "Otu-san. I got you a new flower, last year you had the black and white one. You have a golden yellow rose this time. Otoji said it was your favorite flower, but last year none of them had come in, so I couldn't bring you one. But you got one this year. I made sure of it." The girl grinned and patted the stone head.

"We have to go early this year, Sandaime is having a scavenger hunt to find us. But we can't let anyone know that your my otu-san, or that okaa-san is my okaa-san. So I'm sorry we have to leave so soon this year. But I promise I'll spend as long as I can with you and Okaa-san next year." She smiled and stood up letting the wind ruffle her hair slightly before walking over to Jiraya, Danzo, Tsunade, and Itachi. She smiled softly at them and they headed down the mountain. Over the crowd they could see the Sandaime; they stopped to hear what he had to say.

"People, the scavenger hunt has ended. The flower bringer has already visited Yondaime-sama's wife, and I'm sure that they have already visited Yondaime-sama himself. This won't happen next year, if we find them, we find them. That is all."

He stepped off of his podium and the group of five let out a sigh. Turning they began to head home paying no mind as they saw the group of eight academy students standing in front of the graveyard.

They headed home and as they entered their home a silver blur flew at Kinmuku before settling in her arms letting out a foxy purr.

Shin was sitting at the table, and to the surprise of the other five, the Daiyamo, Shijimi. Was sitting there as well.

Kinmuku's eyes widened and she set Mashiro on the floor and walked over to the Daiyamo.

"Shijimi-sama! What are you doing here?" She stood in front of the man obviously trying to hold herself back from hugging him. It had been a while since she had seen him and they were good friends.

"Came to say happy birthday. When the chuunin exams roll around I expect you to be in them and to be promoted to chuunin. Then you can come work for us." The Daiyamo smiled at her as she grinned back.

"Arigatou Shijimi-sama. Ano, could Itachi come work with me too?" She looked at the older man with pleading eyes and he looked at the un-genjutsued boy.

"You are Uchiha Itachi correct? Before I can answer her plea I need to know. Did you or did you not kill your clan, and if so, why." Itachi sighed and closed his eyes.

"I did indeed kill the Uchiha clan. I killed them because they were trying to take control, they needed to be stopped, so I stopped them."

The Daiyamo nodded his head, then he turned to Shin, Tsunade, and Jiraya. "Can you three vouch that he has no evil intentions?"

The three nodded, "Hai, Shijimi-sama." Shijimi turned and looked Itachi over, "Then, when Kinmuku becomes a chuunin and comes to work for me, you may come as well. Jiraya, Tsunade, and Danzo are intent on coming with the girl, so if you don't you will be left alone here. What say you?"

Itachi looked at Kinmuku's pleading eyes and sighed, "I shall come."

The girl brightened and the celebrations took off, to carry late into the night.

The results ended up with Jiraya, Tsunade, Danzo, and Shin being shit-faced drunk. Itachi was getting there, and Kinmuku was passed out from alcohol.

The Daiyamo, well, he was on his way back to the fire-country capital. He left the instant the booze was taken out.

And the following day, would bring about hangovers, shocks, and anger.

For tomorrow, was graduation day.


	4. A kiss or two from an Uchiha

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, Good Mizuki, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, I do however own this story, any OC's within, and...THE FOX NAMED MASHIRO! Yeah, that's righ'. Now, I've bee' talk'n li'e a Re' Nec'. No offense to those out the'e. Ja ne!

**Main Pairing: **Probably Ita/Naru or Gaa/Naru, So far, gonna be Ita/Naru

_Her Story_

_Chapter four_

_A kiss or two from an Uchiha?_

_Previously_

_Itachi looked at Kinmuku's pleading eyes and sighed, "I shall come."_

_The girl brightened and the celebrations took off, to carry late into the night._

_The results ended up with Jiraya, Tsunade, Danzo, and Shin being shit-faced drunk. Itachi was getting there, and Kinmuku was passed out from alcohol._

_The Daiyamo, well, he was on his way back to the fire-country capital. He left the instant the booze was taken out._

_And the following day, would bring about hangovers, shocks, and anger._

_For tomorrow, was graduation day. _

_Present_

Kinmuku awoke to a throbbing headache. She sat up groaning placing her hand on her head. She looked beside her to see the silver blob of fur that was Mashiro. Smiling she stood up shakily and mumbled a few words placing her hand on her head. The headache cleared up and she let out a sigh of relief.

She dressed herself in the wardrobe that had changed very little from when she was a child. The only difference was she had a long black-sleeved shirt under her gold, black, and crimson vest. She still wore the black BDU pants along with her chocker with the fox pendant on it. She had gained three new piercings in each ear along with an eyebrow ring and a belly button ring.

Exiting her room she stretched yawning. She walked slowly downstairs and looked ate the clock. Her eyes flew open at seeing the time. She pulled out a piece of paper and quickly jotted down a note and grabbed an apple before taking off for the academy.

She had ten minutes to get there and she was speeding through the forest and quickly through the town. Reaching the academy with two minutes to go she flew through the academy doors and slid to a stop in front of Iruka's door before rushing inside and landing herself in her seat just as the clock reached 8:00.

She let out a sigh of relief and rested her head down on the desk. Next to her Sasuke watched her warily, he remembered the interaction they had had a couple of days ago, the fox still worried him. He noticed as she caught her breath she sat back up and began to munch on an apple.

Kinmuku munched on her apple smiling, the apple was quite juicy, a rare oddity in their house, usually Danzo or Itachi got to them first. Savoring the apple she flicked her gaze to the door just as Iruka entered the room. He was quickly followed by the white haired chuunin Mizuki and Kinmuku smiled. She had always loved the white haired man, kind to her as he had always been.

The man had always seen to it that she was helped when she struggled and that she got her praise when it was due. She waved slightly to the man and he took notice of her tiredness.

Meanwhile back at the house, Itachi, Jiraya, Shin, and Tsunade had all awoken to major headaches. Tsunade was mumbling curses about the young blonde girl.

"Damn it! Why couldn't she tell me how she got rid of these fucking hangovers!" The woman let out a groan and walked downstairs to see Jiraya with a cup of black coffee in hand and Itachi was sitting at the table, his head in his hands with a stick of Pocky hanging out of his mouth.

"Where is that brat anyways?" Tsunade asked. Jiraya motioned to Danzo, whom had been standing by the counter a slip of paper in his hands.

"She went ahead to the gennin exams Tsunade. Says that if you still have your hangover when you get back, she'll get rid of it and then tell you how to get rid of them. Good enough for you?"

Tsunade nodded, "Shall we wish her luck? Send Mashiro to pick her up?" Jiraya grinned, "Yeah, we should send Mashiro to congratulate her. So, who wants to wake that grumpy fox up?" Itachi looked up and his Sharingan spun in his eyes as he glared at Jiraya.

His voice was raspy as he growled out, "Shut. Up."

Jiraya only grinned cockily before turning to Tsunade, "He's a light weight don't ya' think Tsunade-hime?" Tsunade returned the grin before nodding. "Yeah, and I'll go wake that ol' fox up. Be back in a moment."

She disappeared upstairs and only when a silver blur whipped downstairs and out the door did they know the job had been accomplished.

Sasuke was in for a scare. That was for sure.

Back at the Academy Iruka had just finished explaining how the test would work. First of all, everyone would test their aim, then they would test Taijutsu, then Genjutsu, and finally Ninjutsu. As the test began Iruka sighed.

Nine of the twenty-seven graduates had true potential. They were the heirs to the seven clans of Konoha, one was a first generation-ninja. And the last was a little girl that no one knew anything about. The seven would more likely than not progress so far into the ranks that they would become the best ninja ever seen.

As Uchiha Sasuke stepped forward to take aim for his test he stepped forward before accurately releasing every shuriken and kunai in his hand. All of them hit the target, but only two of eight hit dead center.

"Byakuya Rin." The silver haired girl stepped forward and removed her weapons from her pouch and slid them into her fingers. She slipped her eyes closed and stepped forward slightly releasing all eight of her weapons and opening her eyes. Every one of the weapons hit the target dead center and she stepped back to allow Iruka and Mizuki to inspect her kunai and shuriken for any signs of cheating.

When they found none they both congratulated her, she had done something that no one had done since Hatake Kakashi and Orochimaru. She only stepped forward and collected her weapons before noiselessly slipping them back into their places. She turned away and saw most of her class looking at her in shock. She ignored them and rejoined their ranks. When she felt a presence coming on them, and quickly she turned around to see a silver blur making it's way towards her.

She grinned and bent down letting the silver fox leap at her and she grasped it tightly grinning. "Mashiro!" She exclaimed happily. She stood up and twirled around, the fox settling itself comfortably in her arms. She grinned once she stopped and allowed the fox to climb onto her shoulders and wrap around her with its head resting upon hers. She merely grinned as she saw the stunned expressions on her fellow pupil's faces.

As the accuracy test ended and the taijutsu began she studied those who could pose a threat. Namely, the guys and Hinata. After observing Sasuke run through the standard academy taijutsu and showing off the Uchiha taijutsu she heard her name called and stepped forward.

She ran through the academy taijutsu quickly and at the request of Mizuki she settled into another unfamiliar stance and allowed her whip to uncoil and fall into her hands. She grinned at the wide eyed expressions of the academy students. She showed off one kata of her taijutsu before stopping and heading back to the line and coiling her whip back up on her arm.

The rest of the graduates continued on. And as the exam passed nothing interesting in the genjutsu occurred. Nor in Ninjutsu. Kinmuku preformed the seals for bushin but changed the final seal without notice and created three kage bushin.

After receiving her hita-ate she exited the room and lifted up the silver fox off the floor by the door. She grinned twirling the fox around. "Did it Mashiro!" She smiled and reclaimed her seat, and her smile only grew wider as she saw Sasuke scoot away just a small bit. As the rest of the graduates went through he smiled, "Alright, come back in two days for your group assignments. But before we leave we would like to announce Rookie of the year and Kunochi of the year."

Most of the group tensed and Sasuke and Sakura both seemed ready to stand up. "Rookie of the year is Uchiha Sasuke, Kunochi of the Year is Haruno Sakura. Remember come back in two days for your team assignments."

As Kinmuku exited the academy her silver fox by her side she smiled as she saw Itachi in his genjutsued form just outside. Tsunade, Jiraya, Danzo, and Shin had come as well. The former three cloaked in a genjutsu while Shin stood in his normal form. Kinmuku smiled seeing all five of them there and she ran towards them grinning. She clambered onto Shin's shoulders and smiled at her family who laughed. They chatted among themselves as they walked away from the academy and Kinmuku slid off her brothers shoulder's to walk alongside the adults.

They laughed among each other and finally came to a stop outside of their house. Stepping through the genjutsu thanks to each persons key they settled outside on the porch. Talking among themselves and Itachi took it in from the side. He sat on the porch railing and he smiled as he saw the Konoha hita-ate tied around Kinmuku's forehead. Her silver bangs nearly covered it and kept the insignia hidden.

Kinmuku was chatting animatedly with her brother along with Jiraya, and Tsunade, both whom were telling her about her duties as a shinobi. The girl seemed to let it slide over her and she grinned cheekily,

"I won't have to worry about shinobi duties to much. I am intent on becoming a chuunin as soon as I can." Jiraya only rolled his eyes, "It'll take a lot of hard work gaki. You won't be able to just up and jump and become a chuunin. It takes skill."

The girl only shrugged and clambered up. She sat down onto the porch railing and balanced herself before placing her hands on her hips and looking down at Jiraya. "Otoji, I bet, that if nothing goes wrong in my first chuunin exam, that I'll be able to become a chuunin."

Jiraya seemed to think about that, "Alright Gaki. If nothing interrupts the exam, if you can become a chuunin, I'll-"

"Stop being a pervert?"

"Give up Icha Icha?"

Jiraya glared at Tsunade and Shin. "No, I'll help Kin-chan learn some of her father's jutsu."

Kinmuku looked down slightly and Tsunade glared at Jiraya. "Which one otoji?" She asked it quietly, as if in fear.

"Rasengan, I don't know how to do Hirashin. But I'll probably give you one of his kunai. So that if you want to, you can figure it out." Kinmuku nodded her head and she looked up. Itachi's eyes seemed to soften just a little bit. Her eyes were sorrowful at the mention of her father and she slipped off of the porch railing.

"Otoji, we should ask Shijimi-sama if whether or not I pass in my first chuunin exam, as long as I make it to the final round, then me and Ita-kun can start to train for our guard-ship. What do you think Otoji?"

Jiraya, Tsunade, Danzo, and Shin looked at each other and Jiraya turned a questioning eye onto Shin, "Do you think he'd agree to that Shin?"

The younger man nodded his head, "I'm sure that if he received a good reason, there would be no doubt in his mind."

The silver haired girl smiled widely and her eyes seemed to reflect it, but only slightly. She let the smile go from her face slowly and she slipped into the house nearly un-noticed.

Later that night the group got drunk once more, except for Kinmuku, Itachi, and Danzo. They watched on amusedly as Jiraya, Tsunade, and Shin all entered into their own personal drinking contest. Tsunade emerged the winner shouting loudly with horrible slurring. When she finally passed out on the couch with Jiraya and Shin, Itachi and Danzo could no longer hold in their laughter. When they heard soft footsteps they looked around and found that Kinmuku had disappeared.

Thinking she had gone up to her room Itachi and Danzo retired for the night and headed up into their own rooms.

Outside however, Kinmuku sat out in the middle of the garden, next to the small pond and just on the edge of the flowers. She sighed toying slightly with the beautiful flowers. She looked into the pond and stared sadly at her own reflection along with the moon's.

"Tsuki-sama, how do you put up with it?" She asked softly looking up to the full white moon. She sighed contently as a few stars twinkled in the darkness, before she fell back into the flowers looking up into the star filled sky.

She never even noticed the onyx eyes that watched her worriedly.

_Next morning_

Kinmuku awoke to a gentle shaking of her shoulder and she let her eyes flutter open. When her sight came to her she was eye to eye with a pair of onyx eyes. Her eye blinked a couple of times before grinning, "Ohayougozaimasu Ita-kun."

Itachi lifted his head and nodded. "Ohayo Kinmuku." He stood up and offered a hand to the silver haired girl that was on the ground. She grasped his hand and tugged herself up. "Arigatou, Ita-kun." She dusted her pants off and smiled up at him. He rolled his eyes and teasingly asked, "Have fun on the ground. Kinmuku-chan?"

The girl grinned widely, "Yep. Have fun sleeping up in your bed?"

Itachi rolled his eyes, "Na, nothing beats the cold hard ground." He replied rolling his eyes again.

Kinmuku's grin widened even farther, "That's good to know you think that Itachi." She stretched out her arms and let out a contended sigh when she heard the popping of her joints.

"Much better," she said with a grin and looked at the house, "Is Tsunade-oba-san up yet?" Itachi shook his head, "Iie, but it would probably be smart if you stayed out of the house till she wakes up. Yesterday she was pissed when she woke up. And I think she completely forgot that she was gonna ask you how to stop the hangovers."

The silver haired girl nodded her head. "Alright, well I'm gonna go into town and get my picture taken for my license. I'm gonna go get Mashiro and then I'll head out. Don't wait up for me." She disappeared into the house before quickly returning with her silver fox trotting beside her. Itachi smiled slightly and watched them head out. When they were out of sight he headed back inside.

With Kinmuku and Mashiro they were quickly out of the forest and headed into town when they froze. Kinmuku turned her head and glared into the bushes taking Mashiro up into her arms she let the fox climb onto her shoulders and she jumped into the trees before continuing on her way.

She finally reached Konoha and stepped into town heading towards the Hokage Monument and Hokage Mansion. She passed by the academy and turned she stopped before it. Starring at it for a moment she sighed and shook her head. Continuing on her way she quickly came to the place to take pictures and she had her picture taken, her silver fox wrapped around her. Placing it on her shinobi record she sighed, looking it over for a final time she headed towards the mission office, where she would have to turn in her record.

As she stepped in she could hear slight foot steps behind her and she narrowed her eyes. Handing the Hokage her form he nodded to her and she turned back around. The door slammed open and their was a voice,

"Old man! I've come to take your title!" A little boy with a bucket like helmet on his head entered through the door and halfway to the Hokage he slipped and fell face first onto the wooden floor. The old Hokage placed a hand over his face and sighed.

Kinmuku however looked at the boy before rolling her eyes and stepping past. She heard him scuffle up and turn towards her. "It was you wasn't it! You're the one who tripped me!"

The blue-gray eyed girl turned around and her silver fox jumped off of her shoulders and she glared at him, "I did nothing of the sort."

The boy glared at her walking over to attempt to attack her as well. She merely picked him up by the scruff of his shirt and held him at eye level. When a man in a blue jounin jumpsuit entered the room he noticed his charge in the hands of an unknown girl.

"Gaki. Put the honorable grandson down this instant!"

The blonde girl turned her head so that one eye faced him, "Who? I see no honorable grandson in here. I only see you, the Hokage, myself, my fox, and this stupid gaki who had the nerve to attempt an attack on me. I find that he should learn his lesson. He shouldn't attack people older, wiser, and more powerful than him." She turned her attention back to the brown haired boy in her hands and glared at him.

"That's the Sandiame Hokage's grandson! Get your filthy hands off of him!"

"Oh? Is that so, well then by all means."

The boy in her hands was smiling smugly but when her free hand came down punching him in the head and looked up at her shocked. She merely glared at him, "I don't give a flying monkey's ass who you are. You could be the Yondaime's kid, a long lost Uchiha, or even the Hokage. You don't disrespect people, you don't attack people who are supposed to be your comrades. I will punish you for it every time that it happens."

She glared at him a final time before turning away and brushing past Ebisu and exiting out the door. The jounin looked at the Hokage in shock, he never even noticed Konohamaru slip out to follow the girl and her fox. "Hokage-sama, who was that girl?"

The Hokage sighed, "That was Byakuya Rin. A gennin who has been guaranteed a guard-ship for the Daiyamo."

Ebisu's eyes widened in shock and he turned his head to look at the door where Kinmuku had exited. Pushing his sunglasses up his nose he sighed, "Well, come on young master. We-" He turned around and noticed Konohamaru no where in sight.

"WHAT!"

Outside Kinmuku walked along her eyes dropping slightly in weariness. "Mashiro, what say you, that we find a nice quiet place to sleep ne?" The fox nodded its head yawning like its master. As the two walked towards the park they could hear laughter of children and the dreadful group of academy graduates she had oh so been hoping to not see.

Ignoring them she found a large tree that shaded the ground well and she slipped down underneath it. Letting her eyes close Mashiro laid down on her legs and she was nearly asleep when the group of Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji, Shino, Ino, Hinata, and Sakura noticed them. The group moved towards her talking among themselves quietly, except for Shino who was observing the blonde girl closely.

When they reached Kinmuku and Mashiro Kiba stepped forward, Akamaru following beside him. Kiba reached out as if to shake Kinmuku awake when her eyes opened and she glared at him.

"I'm trying to sleep here. Do you mind?"

Kiba, Ino, and Sakura glared at her. Chouji and Shikamaru backed up along with Hinata, Shino, and Akamaru. When Ino opened her mouth along with Sakura to yell at the sun-haired girl she stood up wearily before glaring at them again.

Mashiro stood up like wise and the two popped their stiff joints before fixing a stare at the three. "If you won't leave us alone, then we'll just leave. Come on Mashiro." She and the fox turned around trailing away leaving three pissed off gennin and four surprised gennin. Kiba watched the fox turn its head and glare at them before turning away and quickly taking off in a run followed by its master.

Kiba muttered something un-intelligible under his breath and the group turned away.

Kinmuku and Mashiro had taken off into the forest eager to get back home and actually get a good nights sleep. When they reached the genjutsu covering the house she stepped through and headed back towards the pond she sat down beside it and let Mashiro curl up on her legs. She looked up to the blue sky and sighed nudging Mashiro off of her legs she stood up and stretched once more before heading out back behind the house.

Settling herself in front of a training log she waited for Jiraya to emerge outside. When he did she waved to him and he quickly headed over and pulled her to her feet. "Come here. You have three hangovers that need to be healed."

The girl laughed and lifted her hand to Jiraya's head and a green glow engulfed it. When she removed her hand Jiraya let out a sigh. "Thanks gaki." The girl nodded and headed inside. There she saw Tsunade and Shin sitting at the table a cup of black coffee in front of them. She came up behind Tsunade first and let the green glow engulf her hand and placed it on Tsunade's head, when she let out a sigh she moved onto Shin and repeated the process.

She turned to Tsunade and explained how it worked, "Just picture the part of the mind that is hurt by alcohol and place send out your chakra. Then place the hand on the head and the hang over should disappear." Tsunade nodded, "Thanks a lot gaki."

Shin nodded his head, and then smirked, "Shall we go out and train now?"

Kinmuku nodded her head and both Shin and Jiraya stepped outside. She looked at them and cocked her head. The two smirked at her and Jiraya motioned for her to follow him. "First you'll be training with me in ninjutsu. Then you'll be facing Shin in a sword fight."

The girl nodded her head and Jiraya began to teach her the basics of _Doton: Doryuu Endan_. After grasping the basics it wasn't long till a small earth dragon rose from the ground and released a few bullets of mud at Jiraya. He smiled as the girl fell back and sat down panting.

"How'd I do otoji?" The older man smiled at her, "You did good gaki. I didn't get a dragon that size for about three weeks after Sarutobi-sensei began to teach me that."

The girl grinned broadly at him and then stood up shakily. "Are we done now? I have to go in and get, Chirakasu." Jiraya nodded his head and the girl stumbled towards the house. She headed inside and returned moments later with her four foot long sheathed katana in hand. She placed the sheath on her back holster and removed her katana and settled into her sword stance facing towards Shin.

The red head smiled at her and withdrew his own sword from his back and settled into his own stance. The two leaped at each other and clashes of metal could be heard. The fight went on for sometime and the sun began to set. Finally a victor emerged.

Shin was behind Kinmuku his sword at her throat and he smiled. "I win." The girl sighed and nodded her head weary of the blade. He removed his sword and replaced it in its holder. Kinmuku followed suit and quietly stumbled to the house. She headed upstairs slowly and stepped into the shower, getting off all the dirt and sweat from her body. She stepped back out and dressed herself in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She stepped out of the bathroom her dirty clothes in hand and headed to her room. She placed them in a hamper before collapsing onto her bed and falling into a fitful slumber.

_Next Morning_

A shrill buzzing woke Kinmuku up and she groaned. Standing up she stretched popping her joints and quickly got dressed. Her clothing differed slightly from her other clothes, today she wore a pair of midnight black BDU pants, a black shirt with red flames on the hems of that only reached her mid-drift and on the back was a blazing red kanji for the number nine. She pulled her hair into a low and loose ponytail and tied it with a thin string of leather.

She placed all of her earrings in, all of them black, a silver barbell was placed threw her eyebrow and a sparkling crimson hoop was placed in her bellybutton. Her kitsune choker was placed on her neck and she tucked her necklace key and her Hokage necklace underneath her black shirt. Strapping her sword onto her back she holstered her kunai holders onto her legs and placed her equipment pouches onto her waist. She looked into the mirror and grinned before heading downstairs.

Swiping an apple from the basket she waved to Itachi and Shin, the two were downstairs sitting at the table. Outside Mashiro stood up and trotted along beside her, deciding to head to school with her. As she traveled to the academy, her furry friend beside her, she munched quietly on the apple and once again pondered how she managed to get one of the juicy apples.

When she finally made it to the academy she stepped in and seated herself in her regular spot in the corner. Mashiro was laid out on her desk, her tail hanging off and swaying back and forth.

Kinmuku herself was leaning back in her chair and her eyes slipped closed almost falling into sleep. She heard the door slide open and there was a loud shouting.

"I got here first Ino-pig!"

"No I got here first Forehead!"

The blond and pinkette glared at each other and Kinmuku had to refrain herself from yelling at the two for not being able to shut up. She settled for glaring at them and she snorted. The two girls whipped their heads towards her and glared back at her. They opened their mouths to yell at her when she stood up and walked over to them. Her eyes were frosty as she glared at them and they shivered. She jumped up on Sasuke's desk and glared at him. She opened her mouth and began to speak, "You really should keep your lap dogs on a leash Uchiha."

The two banishes let out angered screeches and Sasuke glared at her. "Yeah and you should learn to not disrespect me. I could beat you any time of the week." He smirked as she glared at him. A gennin sitting in front of them bumped into Kinmuku and she fell forward.

Sasuke and her met face to face to get uh... better acquainted.

When they finally got over the shock Kinmuku leaped away and began to dry heave. She let loose a glare at both Sasuke and the boy who had bumped into her. Turning away she disappeared back to her desk and sat next down in her seat. Mashiro looked at her sympathetically and whinned to her master.

The girl mumbled something soothing to the fox and she suddenly felt a load of weak killing intents focus upon her. She noticed the fan girls sending her death girls and she released her own glare at them. They backed off and she began to stroke Mashiro's fur softly. As Iruka and Mizuki entered the room she lifted her head and cocked her head to the side.

"Alright, toady you guys enter the shinobi world. I have only one thing to say to you. It's something that you will find to be very true. Look underneath the underneath." The group of gennin began to speak among each other. Iruka smiled, "Alright now, settle down. We will now be announcing your shinobi teams. Team 1..."

Kinmuku narrowed her eyes and growled, _'As long as I don't get put into a team with Sasuke I'm good.'_ She thought, remembering the incident she let out a low growl.

Sasuke himself was thinking along the same lines, _'Teams? They'll just pull me down. Well, Rin might not. '_ He thought back to the incident and glared, but it softened slightly as well at the thought of them. He mentally slapped himself at that thought, _'What is wrong with me!?'_

Unknown to the thoughts of his two anti-social students Iruka continued on, "Team 7, Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke looked up and Sakura and Ino looked up hoping with all their hearts to be put on the same team, "Haruno Sakura," Sakura leaped into the air cheering and grinned smugly at Ino.

"And Byakuya Rin," There was a thumping on the table and the class turned to see the moon-kissed haired girl banging her head on the table. "Squad will be lead by Hatake Kakashi."

Inwardly the girl groaned, Kakashi had been trained by her Otu-san, and was known to be notoriously late.

"Team 8 will be Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata. Led by Yuuhi Kurenai." The three friends turned and smiled at each other slightly.

"Team 10 will be Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji. Led by Sarutobi Asuma." Ino groaned and sunk in her chair while the two boys smiled, happy to be on the same team.

"Now, you will be given lunch to get to know your teammates a little better and then return here to meet your jounin sensei's. Dismissed."

The group of newly formed gennin teams exited the academy and headed outside. Kinmuku stood up slowly and the silver fox stood up as well and the two walked out. Kinmuku's hand flew to her sword's hilt when a hand came to rest on her shoulder and she whipped around to find Itachi standing there cloaked in his genjutsu. She smiled at him and they walked outside talking to each other.

Mashiro trotted between the two and as they walked past several of the gennin teams the girls seemed to have hearts in their eyes. When they noticed the blonde girl walking with the black haired man they seemed to simmer angrily.

Itachi looked at some of the looks being sent to Kinmuku and he sighed, shaking his head. "So, how does it feel to graduate, Kin-chan?" The girl shrugged.

"Nothing too special, but I have to say. I'm not that happy about team arrangements. I got a fan-girl of Sasuke on my team, along with the teme himself." Itachi chuckled at this and he patted her on the head.

"And your sensei is?"

"Hatake Kakashi," she let out a quiet murmur that Itachi barely caught, "Otu-san's best student." Itachi looked down sympathetically at her.

"You'll live, Kin-chan."

"Yeah, sure I will Ita-kun. Sure I will." She looked up and grinned at him before bending down and patting Mashiro. The man stopped beside her and bent down as well, when he was eye level with her he smiled. "You'll do great Kin-chan. Don't worry about it."

Kinmuku only nodded her head and looked up when she heard footsteps. Itachi looked up as well and they spotted Sasuke walking towards them.

The girl sighed and lifted Mashiro up in her arms, the fox curled her tail around her arm and snuggled into the girls warmth. As Sasuke reached them he glared at Itachi.

"What do you want Sasuke?" Her voice was low as she spoke to him and her eyes had become frosty. Itachi stood behind her a hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her from striking out at the young gennin.

"Who is he?" He jabbed a finger at Itachi accusingly.

"A very good friend of mine teme. What does it matter to you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Come with me, we're supposed to eat lunch as a team anyways."

"If that's so, then why don't you go get Sakura and then come get me?"

"I already told her to meet me there. She's there right now probably."

Kinmuku narrowed her eyes, she turned to Itachi and looked into his eyes, "You wanna come too Ita-kun?"

Itachi nearly smirked when he saw a spark of jealousy in Sasuke's eyes at being called what he had been called. He shrugged.

"Sure why not, we have to work on your kenjutsu anyways, I suppose you can do that after you've had lunch." His reply made her grin brightly and she turned to Sasuke. "Fine, let's go." Sasuke seemed to darken as he noticed Itachi following after them. They came up to a secluded spot and noticed Sakura sitting nearby with her lunch out. She turned to see Sasuke and waved happily, but when she noticed who was following him she glared.

Kinmuku only shrugged and seated herself a bit apart from the other two and removed Mashiro from her arms. The fox groaned a foxy groan and laid herself in Kinmuku's lap. The girl laughed lightly and pulled her pack from her shoulder. She removed two bentos and handed one to Itachi. He looked at her confused, and she smiled. "I thought someone would come today, I didn't know if it would be you, jiji, oba-san, or otoji, but I knew it would be one of you."

Itachi nodded his head and the group of four ate in quiet silence, well, Sakura was constantly pestering Sasuke for a date and as Itachi watched this his eyes held bright amusement.

When Kinmuku finished her lunch she closed her bento back up and set it in her back and did the same once Itachi finished. She slung her pack back onto her shoulder and stood up followed by Itachi. They began to head away when Sasuke called over to them.

"Where are you going? We have to get back to class." The two ignored him and continued on their way. When they reached a clearing Kinmuku removed her sword from the sheath and Itachi pulled out his kunai. "Shall we begin now?"

He received a nod in answer and the two disappeared from view. They came together several times in a clash of sparks before leaping away again. Finally, they met again in a clash of sparks and a kage bushin appeared behind Itachi and held a kunai to his throat.

He smiled and the clone dispersed and Kinmuku re sheathed her katana. "How was that Ita-kun?"

Itachi grinned, "That was very good, now, why don't you go back to your class so that you can meet Kakashi on time?"

Kinmuku nodded her head and they headed back to the school. When they reached it Itachi waved and headed back to their house and Kinmuku headed inside. She reached the building and stepped into her classroom to see only her team mates left. They glared at her as she entered and she plopped herself down in a seat her silver fox sitting at her feet.

Within ten minutes Kakashi appeared and poked his head through the door. "Team seven?" He was assaulted with two meek killer intents and he smiled his one eyed smile. "My first impression of you is that I hate you. Meet me on the roof." He disappeared in a puff of smoke and the three gennin stood up, heading upstairs. They found Kakashi leaning against the academy roof railing. Seeing a set of stairs Sasuke and Sakura seated themselves on it while Kinmuku seated herself on the opposite railing of Kakashi.

He looked at each of them and he sighed. "Okay. Introduce yourselves, You know, names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams."

Sakura looked at him confused, "Can you go first to let us know what you mean?"

Kakashi sighed, _'Great. A brown noser.' _"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I have some likes and dislikes, hm...I have a few hobbies...and I have a dream. Now, you pinky."

Sakura glared at the new nickname and began, "My name is Haruno Sakura, My likes are..." She glanced at Sasuke, "My hobbies are," She glanced at the dark teen again, "My dreams are," She looked at Sasuke again and squealed. "And your dislikes?" Kakashi drawled out, "Rin and Ino-pig!" She yelled angrily.

The gold haired girl rolled her eyes and Kakashi sighed, _'Great, not just a brown noser, a fan-girl too! Oh joy!' _Kakashi closed his eye for a second and pointed to Sasuke. "Okay you next."

Sasuke placed his hands in front of his face, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I have a ton of dislikes, and I don't like very much. I have no hobbies, and my dream can't be called a dream, because I will do it. I want to kill a certain man and revive my clan."

Sakura squealed, "So cool Sasuke-kun!" Kinmuku rolled her eyes and Kakashi let loose an inward groan, _'An avenger. Greeeattt.'_ He pointed to the sun kissed girl, "You blondy."

The girl shrugged, "My name is Byakuya Rin. I like Ita-kun, my family, and Mashiro. I dislike _fan-girls,_ a certain Uchiha, and people who hate others for something they can't control. My hobbies include kenjutsu, learning ninjutsu from by otoji, and learning medical jutsu from by oba-san. My dream is to be Shijimi-sama's best guard in his whole force."

She grinned while stroking the silver fox in her lap. Kakashi looked at her and cocked his head, _'Well, looks like we actually have a kunochi that wants to accomplish something. This could turn out interesting.'_ "Alright, well, you're all unique in your own ways, but now we have to see if you're actually going to be able to become gennin."

"WHAT! But sensei what was the test in the academy for if we aren't really gennin?" Kakashi smiled his eyes smile at Sakura, "That was to see if you had the potential to become gennin. Now it's time to see if you actually have the brains, guts, and skill to be one."

"Meet me tomorrow morning at 7'o clock at training ground 3." He turned away and then stopped as if to think about something. "This test has a 66 percent dropout rate, that means out of the 27 gennin passed, only nine will make it." He smiled at the stunned expressions on two of his gennin's faces. "Oh. Don't eat breakfast either, that is if you don't want to puke."

He disappeared in a puff of smoke and Kinmuku stood up with Mashiro, stretching out. She popped her neck and fingers before letting out a sigh and heading towards the door to leave the academy. Hearing her two team mates following after her she quickly headed down the stairs. After exiting the building she exited the grounds and walked briskly away from the academy and her two team mates. Heading towards the edge of town she quickly reached it and disappeared into the forest following a small dirt path.

She quickly arrived home and stepped up to the house. She settled herself down into the hammock on the porch and let out a sigh of content. Rocking back and forth in the breeze she heard Mashiro head inside and announce their presence to her family.

Jiraya, Tsunade, and Danzo exited the house and saw the girl laying down in the hammock. Jiraya grinned at her, "Have fun gaki?"

He heard a muttered, "Loads otoji." Before she rolled onto her side closing her eyes. Jiraya sighed, "Something happen today Kin-chan?"

The girl groaned and sat up her eyes opening. "I got bumped in the back by some kid while I was talking to Sasuke about keeping his lap dogs on a leash and ended up kissing him. Still have the horrible taste in my mouth, I even dry heaved several times trying to get the taste out of my mouth, it didn't fucking work either." She shuddered and Tsunade patted her on the back.

"You didn't enjoy it one bit Kin-chan?"

The girl glared at her, "Not a chance in hell oba-san. He's an asshole. Why would I like him?"

Tsunade merely shrugged, "Well he looks a bit like Itachi and you two seem real close. Plus a lot of times when girls like a guy, they also end up liking the brother of the guy they like so..."

Kinmuku glared at her, unbeknownst to them, Itachi could hear them from where he sat on the roof. Reading a jutsu scroll.

"I don't like Sasuke Oba-san. Yes I like Itachi, but I would never like his brother. Sasuke is a bastard through and through. He wants to kill Ita-kun, he may not know that I'm really good friends with him, but it still pisses me off to no end that he would talk about that so openly like that."

Tsunade nodded her head and up on the roof Itachi smiled slightly.

As Kinmuku headed inside she leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling light headed. She slipped her eyes closed for a moment and then continued on and headed over to the medicine cabinet. Pulling down a bottle of aspirin, she opened it and removed two of the small red pills from the bottle. She pulled out a bottle of water and removed the cap before downing the two asprin.

She bent on the counter and held her head in her hands. She heard a set of footsteps come into the house and she let her eyes slip closed. The scent of mint shampoo came into her nose and she sighed. Itachi had come into the house. An involuntary shiver ran up her body as the aspirin kicked in and she stood up straight putting a hand to her head again as the dizziness came again. Sliding down the wall she groaned and placed let her head rest against the wall.

Itachi, who had come down to see the young girl slid down to the floor, had his eyes open in panic. He quickly strode over to her and knelt in front of her he shook her shoulder gently hoping to wake her up. When her eyes stayed closed his panic got slightly elevated. Looking around he noticed the bottle of aspirin on the counter and looked at it. Cursing slightly at the expiration date on the bottle he ran past Kinmuku and out the door to get Tsunade.

When the older woman entered and checked on the silver haired girl she let out a soft growl. Placing her hand, which had been enshrouded in a green glow, onto the silver haired girls head she concentrated and quickly located the problem. After taking care of it she stood up and walked back over to Itachi. "Alright, she'll be fine now. Don't worry." Itachi nodded his head.

"She had a couple of expired aspirin Tsunade. Shouldn't they have been thrown out?"

Tsunade nodded her head and Itachi tossed her the bottle of aspirin. Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she took in the expiration date. "These shouldn't have done what they did to her. They're only about a month gone, they still should be okay." Itachi looked at the silver-haired girl on the floor and sighed. Bending down in front of her again he shook her gently to wake her up. Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she squeezed them tight as the light assaulted her eyes. Letting out a pained groan she looked up and opened her eyes.

Onyx black eyes greeted her and she shivered slightly as the mint scent greeted her again. She let her eyes close once more before attempting to stand. In her attempt to stand she managed to bump into Itachi and for the second time that day she ended up kissing an Uchiha. Their shock quickly passed however and they pulled apart both of them blushing heavily.

Tsunade, who had still been standing there, grinned smugly at the two teens. Her grin softened though to a teasing grin, "Well, if you two are gonna do that, don't let me get in the way." She quickly brushed past them shaking in her laughter. Itachi and Kinmuku both glared at the older woman who exited the house quickly. Kinmuku passed by Itachi careful not to touch him and headed out back.

Itachi let out a soft sigh and headed outside as well, opting for the front side of the house. When he looked out he noticed Jiraya smiling smugly at Danzo. The older man merely rolled his eyes and Itachi cocked his head. Both men turned to look at Itachi and Tsunade motioned for him to sit down. Itachi narrowed his eyes, "Thanks, I'll stand."

Tsunade glared at him and he shuddered, "Alright, I'll sit." He muttered something and seated himself down onto the porch railing and eyed the group of ninjas warily.

"You do know that she likes you right?" Jiraya asked it bluntly and he looked right at Itachi with a serious expression. "I heard her say that she liked me when she was talking about Sasuke earlier."

"Do you know how much she likes you?" The question was simple, and it came from Tsunade's mouth. Itachi looked at her, "She likes me as a very good friend. That's what she told Sasuke."

Tsunade snorted, "Do you think she'd say that she loved you in front of a person she hates? Or in front of the guy she loves himself? Despite how she acts she is a very shy person. You should realize that." Her eyes settled into a scowl, "When you first started to come here she was quite smitten with you. She hid it though after awhile, she didn't want you to think she was just another of your fan girls, but she really does love you."

Itachi looked at her surprised, "Why would you say that Tsunade?"

The answer this time came from Danzo, "Are you truly that blind Uchiha Itachi?" The man narrowed his eyes at the older man.

"She how many times have you ever seen her truly angry at you?" The Uchiha thought about this for a moment before his thoughts where interrupted. "She has only been truly upset with you once, that one time that you told her you where going to leave. That was the first and last time that I have seen."

Itachi attempted to say something when Mashiro sat up and glared at Itachi, she yipped at him angrily and nipped his foot before disappearing off behind the house. Itachi stared at the spot Mashiro had disappeared at in confusion. "What was that for?"

"She understands us Itachi, you have to remember, she has been living with humans for at least three years now, she's bound to understand what we're saying." Jiraya's voice was hard as he looked at the younger man. Looking up to the sky he saw the sun begin to set and he sighed. Pushing himself off of the porch railing he walked away and headed behind the house. The three people sitting up front after a few minutes could hear shouting. Suddenly Jiraya re-appeared looking a little worse for wear.

He glared at Tsunade, "Was it you or Danzo that taught her the _Suiton: Doshaburi,_ the gaki tried to soak me!" Tsunade looked at Danzo accusingly and the old man smiled. "I taught her that, what of it?"

"God dammit! Danzo, why did you do that!?"

"She wanted a weak suiton that she could use, and, there you have it."

Jiraya glared at the old man and turned back to Itachi, "Why don't you try and talk to her. She's hurting herself." Itachi's head whipped around to look at Jiraya in shock. He headed through the house and out back to see Kinmuku viciously attacking a tree stump with her bare hands. He noticed how her knuckles were bleeding and her nails were too. He strode out to her and grasped her arms.

Kinmuku herself let out a growl when the mint shampoo scent washed over her again and she felt Itachi holding her arm. "Let go." She growled out.

"Not until you stop hurting yourself."

"I'm not hurting myself! I'm training!" She ripped her arm from his hand and returned to her assault on the log. When she felt Itachi reaching towards her again she moved away while keeping up her brutal punishment on the log and herself.

She suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her and hold her arms to her, she knew that it was Itachi and she growled. After another attempt to break free of his arms she froze herself and closed her eyes. She took a deep shuddering breath before slipping out of Itachi's arms and heading up to the house. Footsteps followed franticly behind her and she had to stop herself from whipping around to glare at him. Picking up the pace of her feet she reached the house and disappeared inside.

Itachi followed suit and only once she reached her room and slammed the door did he stop following her. He sighed outside of her door and turned away. She heard the padding of his feet and she collapsed onto her bed. Pulling out a roll of bandages underneath the bed, she began to wrap up her hands and watched the blood stain them slightly. She sighed before laying herself out on the bed and rolling over onto her side looking out her window. Murmuring a quiet, "Oyasumi Tsuki-sama." She fell asleep caught in the moon's white glow.

Later that night her door cracked open and Itachi crept in. He looked at her sleeping form sadly. She had one arm curled around her self and the other was hanging off the other side of her bed. She was laid out on her side and her gold hair was covering her. He shook his head sadly and stepped over to look at her face. There was a few dried tear marks on her face and he sighed. He brushed his lips over her forehead and murmured softly, "Good night, Kin-chan." He headed out of the room and chanced one last glance her way and was startled to see her eyes staring at him for a moment before turning away and looking out the window.

_The next morning_

Kinmuku awoke to a soft light on her face and looked out the window to see a bright sunrise. She blinked a few times before standing up and dressing. She made sure to place every earring into place and left the green jeweled necklace outside of her white shirt that blazed with black flames and on the back was the kanji for 'Kyuubi' in a blazing black flame. Her pants were black and she wore a pair of black combat boots. Two black bands were on both of her wrists and one had the kanji for 'Sin' the other had the kanji for 'Virtue'.

She lifted up her ninja pack and placed it on her shoulder before heading downstairs. She grabbed two apples and placed one in her shinobi pouch before exiting the house. Outside she ignored the black haired man sitting outside and continued on her way taking out small bites out of her apple. Itachi watched her leave sadly and sighed. His eyes closed in weariness and he turned his head to look out at the small pond in the garden. Walking over he seated himself on the small platform that was halfway into the pond.

Kinmuku walked on headed towards training ground 3. After about thirty minutes of walking and one apple later she entered the training grounds at 8'o clock. Sakura and Sasuke who had been there since 6'o clock glared at her. Kinmuku ignored both of them and pulled out her other apple and began to munch on it as well. Finally after another hour of waiting Kakashi appeared and noted that Kinmuku was just finishing off a shiny red apple.

He smiled, "Yo." Waving slightly he felt two weak killer intents focus on him and he saw Sasuke and Sakura both glare at him. Sakura opened her mouth to shout at him but Kinmuku beat her to it. "Your late Hatake-sensei. For your own appointment too." The girl's eyes however had sparked with a slight amusement.

Kakashi rubbed his head sheepishly, "Well, you see, a black cat crossed my path so..." Seeing two disbelieving looks from his students he coughed into his hand.

"Yes, well. Anyways," He pulled out an alarm clock from seemingly no where, "Alarm set for 12'o clock P.M. Mission objective, to retrieve a bell from me," He held up two small bells and jingled them slightly. "Failure to retrieve a bell means being sent back to the academy."

Sakura looked at her worriedly, "Kakashi-sensei! There's only two bells!"

"Good, you can see. Now, if you have to get a bell to pass, and there is only two what does that mean?"

"One will return to the academy." Kinmuku answered, "Or all three will, or two, or none at all. Isn't that right Hatake-sensei?"

Kakashi smiled his eye smile, "Hai, Gin-chan." The girl glared at him, "Now, you have to come at with me with the intent to kill. Or else you will not pass. Ready?"

A set of nods.

"Set. Begin!"

And with that, the bell test had begun.


	5. Bell Test! Pass or Fail?

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, I do however own this story, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu at this point is the main pairing; there is also a somewhat one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

_Her Story_

_Chapter Five_

_Bell test! Pass or Fail? _

_Previously_

_"One will return to the academy." Kinmuku answered, "Or all three will, or two, or none at all. Isn't that right Hatake-sensei?"_

_Kakashi smiled his eye smile, "Hai, Gin-chan." The girl glared at him, "Now, you have to come at with me with the intent to kill. Or else you will not pass. Ready?"_

_A set of nods._

_"Set. Begin!"_

_And with that, the bell test had begun._

_Present_

Almost instantly after the words left Kakashi's mouth the gennin disappeared. With it, Kakashi smiled his one-eyed smile. _'Good, they know how to hide. Now to find them.'_ He turned around his eye darting around the clearing, his eye passed over Sasuke and quickly found Sakura as well. But his smile slipped away when he found he couldn't locate Kinmuku.

Frowning he pulled reached back into his pack and pulled out an orange book. In doing so, he felt a spike of killer intent at his back and turned around to see Kinmuku on the edge of the trees glaring at the little orange book in his hand. He smiled at her and began to read.

When he heard her footsteps coming towards him he noticed that she had a sword in her hand. Kakashi leaped back as she snapped the sword towards him and quickly removed a kunai. He continued to read his book figuring her not good enough trouble to not be able to read. He was quickly disproved however when her sword came dangerously close to his hand holding the Icha Icha book.

Kinmuku leaped back and settled into a stance that he had seen only once, it was a stance that one of the Daiyamo's best guards had used before he was injured, and it was rumored to only have been known by him.

She raised the sword to her eye-level and held it so it looked to cut her face in half. The black metal glinted coldly and she grinned before sticking her tongue out at him and leaping away back into the trees after sheathing her sword. He narrowed his eyes and was just about to leap after her when a mass of shuriken came flying into him. He stood stricken for a moment before popping into a log.

Sasuke cursed silently to himself and leaped away through the trees. He landed in a sliding stop in the clearing when he saw Kakashi and he settled into the Uchiha taijutsu. Kakashi grinned unknown to his gennin and engaged in taijutsu with Sasuke all the while reading his book. At the same time a clone of Kakashi's was dispatching Sakura with a simple genjutsu. As the clone's memories returned to him he sighed.

She had fainted. Immediately.

Removing himself from his thoughts he saw Sasuke begin a set of hand seals. His eye widened in shock and he tucked his book away before producing a few hand seals of his own.

"_Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu_"

A large fireball made its way towards Kakashi and struck the Earth leaving a large crater. Sasuke walked over to see nothing but an empty crater. Swearing silently to himself he began to look around for Kakashi. "Behind, left, right, above, if he's not there where is he?"

"Below!" The voice was muffled and a hand shot up from the earth pulling him down into it with a cry of, "_Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!_" Kakashi appeared in front of Sasuke, who was now below the earth in everything except his head. He glared at the feet of the man in front of him who smiled his creepy one-eyed smile.

"Well, you'll probably be able to get out of that yourself, but not before the test is over. And now I have to go find your lovely female teammate. Ja!" He turned and walked away leaving Sasuke stuck in the Earth. Once Kakashi exited the clearing a black and white form made its way over to him. He glared as he recognized his golden-haired team mate.

"Well, well. Would you look at that? Teme got his body stuck underground. Shall I pull you out or leave you there?" Her voice was sarcastic as she looked at him obviously waiting for an answer.

"Why don't you go away weakling? You won't be of any help to me. You're a Kunnochi, you are all weak." He felt himself get punched in the head and saw her glaring angrily at him, "And why the hell do you say that asshole?"

"Your kind don't train. They become Kunnochi to stalk the guys that they like. I'm sure you're no different." He felt her glare at him and watched as her fist hit the earth and he was pushed out. Glaring at him she opened her mouth, "Do you really think that you teme? I have trained myself so hard, to the point that I bleed." She held up her wrapped hands, "I am scarred from where I have trained with my otoji, oba-san, jiji, Shin-onee-sensei, and Ita-kun. You have no freaking idea how long and how hard I have trained."

She whipped her sword out of her holster and watched him eye her black blade warily. "This is a gift from Shin-onee-sensei. It's a present from him and Shijimi-sama. Don't. Insult. Me. Because if you insult me, you insult those who have trained me. And I don't care if you were to call me names. You don't call me weak though, because doing that insults those that I love. And if you do that, I don't care who you are. I will kill you."

Her eyes were cold as she looked at Sasuke and she turned away sheathing her katana. Pulling out a leather string she tied back her hair in a low ponytail and disappeared into the forest leaving behind a stunned Sasuke.

Kinmuku leaped through the trees in the forest and she noticed an abnormality in the earth.

There was a large pink blob laying down on the forest floor. Sighing, Kinmuku walked over to Sakura and growled, "Wake up Sakura." When she didn't wake up she glared and kicked her in the side. "Up pinky." Sakura groaned and rolled over, her eyes opening. Suddenly she let out a gasp, "Sasuke-kun." She stood up and took off towards were the Uchiha was.

Kinmuku sighed, "Is anyone going to stick around long enough, or not piss me off fast enough, to really hear what I have to say?" She sighed shaking her head and took off towards the clearing that they started in. There she found Kakashi sitting, reading his pornographic novel. Quickly removing her blade she stepped out of the forest, her blade at the ready.

Kakashi looked over at her and tucked his novel away, "So, coming again?"

"Maybe, what would happen if I told you I know what the point is, but that it's hopeless with this team?"

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, and looked at her wonderingly, "Why would you say that?"

"This team will never work together as a team. We have a fan girl, the affections of that fan girl, and a Kunnochi who knows what to do, but can't do it because her team mates all are in this for their own goals." She waved her sword imploringly, "Oh well, might as well try to get the bells while there is still some fun in trying."

She grinned a sadistic smile at him and he smirked under his mask. He removed a kunai from his holster and settled himself in a defensive position as he noticed her ready to go on the offense. They leaped towards each other and met in a clash of sparks before they broke apart and circled each other. They returned to their clash several times before Kinmuku sighed, "This is going no where. One second Hatake-sensei."

She sheathed her sword and replaced it quickly with her ever present whip. She smiled and cracked it open. "There, much better." A grin spread over Kinmuku's face as she saw the discomfort on the Copy-Cat ninja's face. Flicking the whip towards him, she let it snap just next to the bells and watched them fall off without notice by Kakashi. She quickly removed two henged stones from her pack and held them tightly in her hand.

Replacing her whip on her arm she leaped towards the older shinobi and made sure to make a move to where the bells would be if they were still there and replaced the fallen bells with the two henged stones. As Kakashi kicked her away she grabbed the two bells off the earth before standing up. Letting out a pained wheeze she disappeared towards the training logs that they had originally started on. Seating herself at the bottom of the middle post she let her eyes close as she waited for the remaining time to pass.

Soon enough the loud alarm rang through the forest and drew Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura back to the clearing. She waved at them from her position under the log and watched her two comrades faces twist in anger. Kakashi however, waved back to her with his commonly-present one-eyed smile.

"Ah, Rin, you're already here. Good."

The blonde girl nodded her head and he smiled, "Good, well since you got here first, I suppose you can go to the post. The girl shrugged her shoulders, "Whatever. But, if I got the bells, doesn't that mean I don't have to go to the pole?" Kakashi nodded his eye confused. Checking his belt for a moment to make sure that the bells were still there he looked up at her, "Yes, but you didn't get the be-" He was interrupted when Kinmuku revealed in her hand she held two silver bells. Jingling them for effect she smiled, "Henged stones Hatake-sensei."

Kakashi looked at her surprised, "Well, then you have both bells, who are you giving the other one to?"

She cocked her head, "Both of them. Even though neither of them deserves it. One of them insulted me and the people I loved by calling me weak. The other one doesn't know how to think of anyone but herself and the guy she has a crush on. I wanted to tell both of them the whole point of the test, but neither of them would listen to me. I suppose neither of them deserve the bells, but hey. Whatever. Besides, not being a shinobi won't stop my dream."

Kakashi looked at her carefully and she tossed the two bells to Sasuke and Sakura. His attention shifted to them and he studied their reactions carefully. Sakura's face was overjoyed and Sasuke seemed a little bit confused. Kinmuku's head rested up against the post and her hands hung limply off of her knees. Suddenly Sasuke spoke up, "Take it back baka. I don't want your help in passing." The girl's head looked at him slowly and the three of them had to repress shudders at the look in her eyes.

"You would still be in that hole if I hadn't helped you then. I heard no complaints after I did that. Why complain now?"

Sasuke glared at her, "I want to pass by my strength not some weak Kunnochi like yours."

It was the wrong thing to say.

Kinmuku leaped up and grasped his throat. "What did I tell you about calling me weak?" She snarled angrily. "I am not weak, I'm strong enough to pull you out of that damn Doton jutsu, I'm strong enough to get a bell from Kakashi, I'm strong enough to do what I am doing now. Do you really truly think I'm weak?" Her voice was low and hissing as she questioned him.

Before it could go to far Kakashi stepped in. "That's enough Rin. Put him down." The girl set him down and turned away. Her voice was quiet and held barely restrained anger as she asked to leave.

"Sure, I'll send one of these two to let you know if you pass or fail." Kinmuku nodded and strode past the memorial. She stopped right before stepping past it and turned back around and seated herself in front of it. After saying a quick prayer at the memorial she stood back up and took off towards the town. Or more specifically, the graveyard.

Kakashi watched her leave and turned to Sasuke, shaking his head he sighed, "You really should learn to not insult people. She is very strong."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "If she was strong she wouldn't have given up her two bells."

"She was supposed to give them up. You two didn't have bells. The whole test was about teamwork. She figured it out, that's why she gave you two the bells. You ruined it though Sasuke when you gave them back to her insisting you didn't need help. You pass, but just barely. And now Sasuke, you have to go and tell her that you pass."

Sakura's mouth opened to protest for her crush but she noticed him glare at his sensei. "Why do I have to tell her?"

"You ruined the test, so you have to tell her."

Sasuke glared and turned away to head into town, he followed the same path that the golden-haired girl had taken and quickly came upon the graveyard. He stood just outside and his hand floated on the entrance gate. He saw her gold head kneeling just in front of a small slab. Opening up the gate he shook the creepy feeling off of him and stepped into the graveyard.

Making his way over to her he noticed that the slab was well taken care of. He stood behind her and took in what was engraved on the rock,

_Namikaze-Uzumaki Kushina_

_Loving mother, wife, and Kunnochi_

_Former member of Uzumaki no Kuni_

He looked down at Kinmuku who was stroking the stone softly. He opened his mouth and began to speak, "Kakashi sent me to tell you we passed."

The girl jumped as if shocked and she looked up to see Sasuke. Nodding her head she turned back to the stone. "You can leave now."

"Who is this?" He asked looking at the stone again. He saw her stiffen and he looked at her, "None of your concern." She said and stood up. She mumbled a few words he didn't catch but figured they were directed to the stone. He stood up to follow her and saw her stiffen once more. She continued to walk despite her stiff walk, but Sasuke could see that she was worried.

Sasuke quickly followed after her hoping to see what had made her stiffen, as he looked just outside of the graveyard he noticed the Sandiame Hokage. But why would she stiffen at seeing him? Taking off after her he quickly caught up to her and grabbed her wrist. "What about the Hokage scares you?"

She glared at him and yanked her wrist away keeping her mouth pressed in a thin line. She continued on quick to exit the graveyard and past the Sandiame. After getting past the graveyard she took off in a run leaving the two of them behind.

Sarutobi turned to Sasuke his eyes worried, "Uchiha-san. Who was that child visiting?"

"Someone named Namikaze-Uzumaki Kushina. Who is that?"

"She is the Yondaime Hokage's wife." Sasuke's eyes widened and looked at the spot that Kinmuku had disappeared. The Sandiame looked at Sasuke, "Was that Byakuya, Byakuya Rin?"

Seeing Sasuke nod the Sandiame's eyes narrowed, turning away from the Uchiha heir he headed back towards the Hokage Tower.

With Kinmuku the girl slowed to a walk as she entered the forest and held her head looking up at the bright blue sky. So they had passed? She sighed and shook her head to rid of her headache. As she reached the house she entered the garden and seated herself on the small dock that went halfway out into their pond. Looking into the waters she watched her reflection shimmer as a few koi swam past.

She closed her eyes and held her head in her hands. When she opened her eyes again Itachi's reflection had joined hers and was right behind her. She looked up to see Itachi looking down at her.

"Did you guys pass?"

She closed her eyes again and nodded her head. Her head drooped down in her tiredness and she let her eyes open so that they were half lidded. She felt Itachi seat himself next to her and she scooted away from him slightly. Kinmuku heard him sigh and put his hand to his head.

"How did you guys pass?"

"I got the bells and gave them to Sasuke and Sakura."

Itachi's head whipped around to look at her, "Really? You gave the bells to those two?"

"Hai. But your teme of an otouto gave it back calling be weak. We apparently just barely passed." Itachi chuckled lightly and patted her on the back. "I feel for you Kin-chan. You have to put up with him for quite some time."

Kinmuku rolled her eyes and sighed getting up slowly from her spot next to Itachi she yawned. Heading towards the porch, or more specifically the hammock she was intent on getting some good long sleep. Halfway to it she sensed Itachi right behind her and she figured out why when she fell back due to the silver ball of fur that jumped at her. She let out a weak chuckle at the antics of the little fox before pushing herself away from Itachi.

"You know, you really shouldn't be walking, tired as you are." She shook her head and almost fell over at the headache that split through her mind. Quickly setting the silver fox down she made her way to the porch and laid herself down on the hammock. Rolling onto her side she groaned as the splitting headache in her head increased.

Itachi watched her worriedly and stepped forward as if to help her. He stopped himself though and stepped inside of the house to get Tsunade. When he returned with the buxom blonde following behind him they saw the golden girl breathing in deep peaceful breaths, indicating her sleep. Itachi looked at Tsunade and motioned to her.

Tsunade stepped up beside Kinmuku and placed her hand to her head. Closing her eyes in concentration she let out a small gasp. Removing her hand she swept past Itachi and headed into the house. Quickly returning with Jiraya by her side she motioned for the man to look over their charge. Jiraya motioned for Itachi to leave and when he refused to move he turned angrily towards him.

"This is something you are not allowed to see. Leave. Now."

Itachi stayed put glaring back at the Gama Sannin. "No. I want to know what happens to her. I'm worried, this is the second time in two days that this has happened." Jiraya glared at him and opened his mouth to reply. Tsunade beat him to it,

"This is a family matter. Much as you care about her, you are not family. It has much to do with her bloodline and you can not be present to see it, we are actually both honorary members of both the Uzumaki and Namikaze clan. So, please, leave now."

Itachi scowled angrily before turning away and heading inside the house. Tsunade motioned for Jiraya to take his look and the man lifted her shirt slightly to reveal her demon seal. Inspecting the seal closely he noticed a slight abnormality about it. Cursing slightly he turned to Tsunade.

"Kyuubi is making her bloodline come forth early. I don't know which side it's from, but judging from her headaches lately, I'd have to say it's her mother's bloodline. But it might be both of them merging together. I couldn't really tell you."

Tsunade nodded her head and rested her hand on the young girls cheek. "Kin-chan, I wish we could help you. I really, truly do. But I don't know what it is that's happening to you."

The girl let out a groan as she rolled over and her eyes cracked open slightly. "O-oba-san? Otoji?" Her voice was shaky and tiered as she spoke. Lifting her head up she sat up slowly and looked at Tsunade and Jiraya.

"What's wrong?"

"Gaki, your kekai genkai may be coming forth a bit soon. We think that that is what is causing you all your pain." Jiraya's voice was soft and Kinmuku turned to look at Jiraya.

"Is that bad Otoji?"

"Hai, if it's your mother's like we believe, her bloodline is very damaging, you must be careful. But it may also be your mother and father's bloodline's merging together. We're not sure, so just be careful okay?"

The girl nodded her head slowly and looked out. The sun was setting and the moon was climbing higher. She stood up shakily on her legs and walked away from the house and headed over to the pond. She seated herself out as far on the little perch that she could and watched the koi swim beneath her. Two of them caught her eyes.

There was a large black koi with a white, almost perfectly round, spot on its forehead. A white fish swam beside it, like its counterpart, it also held a black, almost perfectly round, spot on its forehead. A soft smile graced her lips and even more so when she noticed them swirling together in a constant circle underneath the moon's white form. Looking up into the sky she let out a sigh.

"Tsuki-sama. Please help me, that's all I ask of you. To help me and my family." Her eyes shut for a moment and she shivered, a water mint scent washed over her and she looked to the edge of the pond to see a small weasel running through a bush of water mint. She smiled slightly and her eyes widened when she noticed Mashiro following after the small weasel and seemed to be smiling.

Kinmuku let out a soft smile at seeing the interaction and looked back up at the moon cocking her head to the side. "What are you trying to say Tsuki-sama?"

Her only answer was the few twinkling stars issued towards her. Shaking her head she stood up and headed back into the house. Taking a quick shower and changing into her night clothing she slipped into her room and slipped underneath her blankets and letting her eyes close in blissful sleep.

After falling into a deep sleep, a soft creaking could be heard. A black haired head poked into her door and a small beam of light illuminated the room. The rest of the body entered the room and slipped towards the girl's sleeping form. A smooth skinned, pale hand brushed the golden locks away from her face. Onyx black eyes softened as they took in the form of the young girl underneath her blankets.

A sigh escaped the male's lips and he leaned over the girl. He brushed his lips over her forehead. "Sleep well, Kinmuku-chan." As the ebony haired man turned away and began to slip out of the room he heard a soft voice from behind him.

"You too, Itachi-kun."

The ebony haired man turned around to look at her, his onyx eyes widened slightly and his eyes met her own blue-gray eyes. Her gold hair framed her face and her eyes were half-lidded in weariness. Itachi cocked his head to the side, nodding his head he slipped out the door with the enticing eyes following him.

As the door clicked shut behind Itachi the sun-kissed girl turned to look out her large window. Out in the garden below she saw Mashiro sitting by the small pond and the weasel she had been following behind earlier, sat next to her by the water pawing gently at the koi fish in the pond.

A small smile spread over her face as she slipped into sleep.

Over the next five months, the relationship between the two steadily returned to normal, and became even slightly better. And it only paused when a mission was given that would change Team Sevens lives.

_Five months later_

"Mornin' Ita-kun, Jiji." Kinmuku walked down the stairs stretching her arms and letting out a yawn. Itachi and Danzo nodded their heads to her and she let out another yawn. Rolling her shoulders she let out a satisfying sigh when a large cracking sound came from her shoulders.

Itachi and Danzo winced at the sound and she closed her eyes and let them open again to see that Jiraya had entered the room as well. Waving at Jiraya she lifted her ninja pack that sat stationary by the door and stepped outside. "Ja!" She called out as she exited her home and headed towards the training fields.

As she entered the fields to see Sasuke and Sakura already waiting for her and Kakashi. Seating herself on the bridge across from her two team mates she let her eyes close. She could briefly hear Sakura talking animatedly to Sasuke.

"It's almost my birthday Sasuke-kun! They decided to give me my present early and we're going out to eat tomorrow night, they said that I could bring my whole team along too. So, will you come Sasuke-kun?"

The brooding boy glared angrily at her, "No." Hearing a shifting behind him he turned to see Kinmuku's eyes open up and stare blankly at the Uchiha. "You know, you really should learn to be kind Uchiha." Her eyes settled into a scowl as she looked at Sakura's slightly shaking shoulders. "Why waste your time Sakura? He'll never accept you, so why keep trying?"

The pink haired girls sobs seemed to only increase and the former blonde let out a growl. "Stop being such a wimp Haruno. You'll never manage to do anything until you stand up for yourself. Figure that out. Soon please." Sakura looked up and her jade green eyes met Kinmuku's stormy sea blue eyes. Her tears slowed as she glared at the jinchuruki.

"Shut up! You don't have any idea what it means to have your family go out and celebrate and allow you to have your friends over! You are nothing but a family of freaks!"

Kinmuku's eyes narrowed and she turned away, there was a soft mumble heard from her that was translated to be, "Ohayo, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura and Sasuke turned to look at Kakashi.

The one eyed man smiled and let out a small wave. "Yo."

"YOUR LATE!" Sakura yelled pointing an angry finger at her sensei.

"Ah...Gomen, gomen. I had to give CPR to a drowning fish."

Sakura glared angrily at her sensei, "LIAR!" She screeched pointing once again at the one-eyed man. Kinmuku merely rolled her eyes and sighed, "So, what are we doing today Kakashi-sensei?"

"Missions of course," he smiled at them with his eerie one-eyed smile. "So, to Hokage tower neh?" As the group of four headed towards the tower they began to dread the thought of another D-Rank mission. As they entered the mission room the aged Hokage was holding his head in his hand, and mumbling under his breath. A cough from Kakashi allowed the Hokage to know that they had arrived. He nodded his head and lifted up a scroll marked, 'D-Rank'.

"Alright, you will be retrieving the Fire Daiyamo's wife's cat. Tora." Seeing the group let a sigh pass through them they turned to head off on the everyday mission. Passing through the forests with a small radio communicator attached to each gennin. There was a slight buzzing over the radios.

"This is Cherry Blossom. In position, over."

"Paper Fan, in position. Over."

"Silver Fox, in position and moving in to capture target. Over."

Kakashi mentally sighed and stepped out of the bushes as a silver, black, and red blur leaped upon the shadowy form of the cat Tora. "Target captured. Verified as target Tora." Kinmuku's voice floated over the radios and Kakashi let out a sigh. "Alright, head back to Hokage tower."

"Hai, Hatake-sensei." The radio clicked and let Kakashi know that she had disconnected her mike from the others. Sighing he headed towards where his gennin were and came upon the sight of Kinmuku cradling the cat in her arms. Looking up at Kakashi she smiled at him, "Mission accomplished, Hatake-sensei."

Kakashi nodded his head and the group of four, three gennin and a jounin headed into the city of Konoha. As they re-entered the Mission Office, both the Daiyamo himself and his wife stood inside waiting for the return of the gennin team. When Kinmuku saw the Daiyamo she immediately stepped towards him. After placing the cat in the woman's arms she watched Tora be squeezed.

"Lady Yumi, you shouldn't squeeze Tora-chan like that. Hold her like this," after adjusting the way the woman held the cat so that the cat was cradled in her arms the woman smiled when the little cat began to purr in contentment. "Arigatou Rin-chan." She said smiling at the young girl. The sun-kissed child only cocked her head to the side smiling brightly. "No problem at all Yumi-sama."

"Rin," a soft voice said behind the girl, she whipped around her hand on her sword handle but her eyes lit up in happiness when she saw the red-headed man behind her. Leaping at him in a hug she cried out, "Shin-onee-sensei!" Her arms wrapped around his stomach and the man patted her head. The rest of Team 7 watched in shocked silence as the Daiyamo's family treated the blonde with such familiarity.

The Daiyamo cleared his throat and smiled. "Rin-chan. You'll be happy to hear that Shin has made a complete recovery, he'll soon be returning to the forces."

The silver haired girl released her adoptive brother and turned to look at the Daiyamo. Bowing she let out a contended sigh as she spoke. "Arigatou, Shijimi-sama."

The older man nodded his head and turned to the Hokage. "Arigatou, Sarutobi." Paying the fine for the cat he turned and motioned for his wife to leave with him. "Sayonara, Sarutobi-san. Rin-chan." Exiting out the door with his wife and Shin following him the rest of Team Seven looked at Kinmuku who was watching her brother's back. A slight cough from Kakashi brought her attention back to her team.

"Hm? Oh, Hai?" Looking at Kakashi she met his black eye and smiled.

"How do you know the Daiyamo so well, Rin?"

"I told you that I aspire to be Shijimi-sama's greatest guard. My otoji is good friends with Shijimi-sama, and he asked him if he would be willing to let me work for him. He sent Shin-onee-sensei to train me, and every year, on my birthday Shin-onee-sensei comes to train me and stays for about two weeks before going back to the capital."

Sasuke and Sakura watched her closely as she continued, "Last year, Shijimi-sama came with Shin-onee-sensei and he stayed at our house for a little bit. He's like a distant grandfather that I don't get to see very much." As she finished her head cocked to the side as if in concentration. "Last time he came over, he had to leave early because Oba-san, Otoji, Jiji, Ita-kun, and Shin-onee-sensei got drunk."

'_I did too of course, but they don't need to know about that.'_ She eyed the older Hokage as he watched them talk. "Sandaime-sama, is it possible that we could get a C-Rank mission this time?"

Her question brought out a start from the rest of the group and they turned to look at the old Hokage. Iruka, who had been sitting next to the Hokage glared at her.

"Rin! Gennin can't just ask for C-Ranks! You have to have a certain amount of D-Ranks, plus that new gennin like yourselves don't get them this early in their carriers."

"Umino-sensei, we've done 16 D-ranks. That's more than enough to qualify for a C-Rank. Plus that, what is the point of these D-Ranks? They only manage to make us new gennin think this is all there is. It won't prepare us for things like Chuunin and Jounin exams."

Iruka glared at her shaking his head, he opened his mouth to explain to her the ranking system but the aged Hokage interrupted him. "Iruka, hand me that C-rank escort mission would you?"

The Chuunin handed the older man the yellow scroll marked 'C-Rank' and the Hokage unrolled it. "Squadron 7, led by Hatake Kakashi, and consisting of gennin Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Byakuya Rin. You are issued C-Rank escort mission to take bridge builder Tazuna to the land of the waves and protect him while he completes his bridge."

Kakashi straightened up and nodded, "Hai, Hokage-sama." Turning to his team he motioned them forward, "Alright, pack for a week long mission, clothing, some food, and your equipment."

The group nodded to their sensei and Sarutobi called out, "Tazuna, you may come in now."

A door opened and an older man stepped out. On his head was a large straw hat that shaded his face. He was clothed in a short sleeved blue shirt that looked like and sleeves had been ripped off. He wore a pair of tan pants that were held up by a rope going around his waist. In his tan hands was a large bottle of sake. When he looked up they saw a gray beard and black eyes behind a pair of small glasses on the tip of his nose. A white towel rested around his neck. Looking up at the three gennin he glared angrily.

"What is this? I requested ninja. Not a group of snot nosed kids." The three gennin all glared at him and he returned it.

"Tazuna-san. You requested a C-Rank mission, that means you get a team of gennin or Chuunin. But, this is a low C-Rank so you were given a team of gennin."

Tazuna looked at the three gennin, "These gaki's don't look like ninja. They look like they couldn't kill a bunny, let alone another human being."

Kinmuku stepped forward and glared at him, "I assure you Tazuna-san. We are more than enough. The black haired boy is the heir to the Uchiha Clan, the pink haired girl is a first-generation Kunnochi with good chakra control. Hatake-sensei is a jounin, and I'm a future Daiyamo guard. We are more than enough." She said, looking at Kakashi she asked, "Can we go pack now Hatake-sensei?"

"Hai, meet me tomorrow at the east gate at 8 'o clock. Dismissed."

The three gennin dispersed to pack and rest up for their C-rank mission, never knowing that this very mission would change their lives.

As Kinmuku headed home her thoughts flipped back and forth between the old bridge builder and what she knew of Nami no Kuni. Her face settled into a scowl of deep concentration as she came into view of her home. She stepped in through the wall and passed the sea of flowers. Entering the home she saw Tsunade and Jiraya sitting at the table playing a game of poker.

Laughing slightly as Tsunade continued to loose she headed upstairs and entered her room. Pulling down two blank scrolls she began to seal up a weeks worth of clothing and made sure to get a different type of shirt for each week. She had her black muscle shirt that had red flames running up it and a blazing red kanji for 'Kyuu' on the back of it, there was about 3 of those with different color variations. Her favorite though was a deep red, almost blood red, shirt that had white and black flames racing along the hems. On the back was the kanji for 'Kyuubi' in black with white tips.

In the other scroll she sealed up a fair amount of her jutsu scrolls and made sure to seal up at least one of every element but packed extra Fuuton scrolls. After rolling them up she headed back downstairs and placed her two scrolls in her pack. She walked over to the cabniets and pulled down one of the scrolls filled with food for about half a week. When she looked up to see Jiraya and Tsunade looking at her strangely she smiled at them.

"We got a C-Rank Oba-san. I'm not exactly sure how long it will last, but it shouldn't be any longer than three weeks."

Tsunade nodded her head, "When will you be leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning at about 8'o clock." Looking around she cocked her head, "Is Ita-kun out back?" Seeing Jiraya nod she smiled and headed outside and when she saw Itachi going through his training on the post she seated herself down on the back porch and watched him till he finally took notice of her. He headed over and seated himself next to her.

"What's up?" He asked looking at her. The sun-kissed girl smiled, "My team will be going on a C-Rank mission tomorrow. I thought you might like to know, because I won't be back for at most three weeks."

Itachi nodded his head, "Don't go pissing anyone off okay?"

The girl glared at him mockingly and he scowled back. The two finally relented and Kinmuku shook her head. "I'll finally be taking Mashiro along, just so that I won't go insane. But, there is also something about this mission that just doesn't add up. We're escorting this guy to Nami no Kuni, but it just doesn't seem like he's telling us the whole truth.

"He also seemed a little upset that he only got a team of gennin. He seemed to hope for jounin even though he only paid for a low C-Rank."

Itachi nodded his head, "Well, Nami no Kuni has very few resources available to them currently. The Daiyamo of Nami is at this point very poor due to a few minor inconveniences. Don't be to hard on them if something bad turns up. Okay?"

Kinmuku nodded her head and turned out the door. She had a bit of last minute training to do and then she would set out early tomorrow morning to get in her usual training then she would head out for the mission.

As she headed outside a small tinge ran up her spine. Looking out over the grassy backyard she turned her head to see Mashiro sitting on a nearby rock and was watching her closely. A shiver ran up her back and she shook her head.

Turning away she headed towards a lone training post and began to beat her fists rhythmically upon the log. As night fell she turned her head once more to the rock where Mashiro had been sitting earlier.

A soft smile lit her face as she noticed the small black weasel sitting next to the silver fox's feet. Stepping over to the little fox she bent down in front of her and the weasel and cocked his head to the side. Crossing her arms on her knees she looked into the little black weasel's eyes and smiled.

"Who is this Mashiro?"

The fox yipped a soft reply and Kinmuku nodded her head. "Good to meet you Kurotachi. I am Kinmuku."

The little weasel cocked his head to the side before bobbing his head up and down.

A bright smile lit her face and she stood up. Her eyes flashed to Mashiro's and she said softly, "We have a mission tomorrow Mashiro. Be up at around six so that we can head in."

The Kitsune bobbed her head to let her know that she understood. Quickly standing up herself she trailed after her master silently and the weasel, Kurotachi, followed after his playmate loyally.

Kinmuku settled herself into her bed and curled up underneath the blankets. She felt Mashiro's form curl up next to her, as well as the small form of the weasel.

A soft smile lit her face as she fell into sleep with only a few luminescent beams of moonlight falling onto her sleeping form.

That night when Itachi came in he noticed the small weasel next to her and cocked his head. Placing his pale hand on its head he noticed no reaction and sighed. Looking down at Kinmuku's sleeping form he backed out slowly and exited the room with a soft murmur of, "Oyasumi."

_Next morning_

"Damn it! Why the hell didn't anyone wake me up!?" A silver blur flew around the ebony and crimson room throwing on a set of clothing and leaping down the stairs. Reaching the bottom the blur slid to a stop to reveal Kinmuku and Mashiro.

They flew for the door and Kinmuku grabbed her pack before heading out. They shot down the lawn towards the village at high speeds.

Why?

The clock read 7:50, town was twenty minutes away.

"Crap! Damn! Fuck!" Those were the colorful choice of words Team 7 heard headed towards them at high speeds. They could see a blur of black, crimson, and silver heading towards them like a bullet.

"Safe!"

Kinmuku landed down just in front of her teammates as Kakashi poofed into view. "Yo!" He said waving with his signature one eyed smile.

Looking at his team and noticing the tiredness that showed on Kinmuku's face he inwardly smirked. "My, my. I see that one of us is already tiered."

"Fuck, you, Kakashi." Kinmuku huffed between breaths and held her hands on her knees. The silver fox next to her panted heavily before glaring at the one-eyed copy nin. He merely smiled his signature smile before turning away.

"So, shall we head out now?"

A group of nods answered him and he smiled. "Good, let's go then."


	6. The begining of the End

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto; I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

**To my reviewers: **_I do love you all so much. I thank you for taking time out of your busy scheduels to write a review to me. One of my reviewers have pointed out that my chapters are a bit longer than would be liked. To that reviewer, I apoligize for the longness of this chapter, but this will probably be the longest chapter yet, and I hope that this will be the last long chapter._

_Her Story_

_Chapter 6_

_Mission to Nami no Kuni,_

_Kiri no Oni vs. Konoha no Oni_

_Previously_

_Looking at his team and noticing the tiredness that showed on Kinmuku's face he inwardly smirked. "My, my. I see that one of us is already tiered."_

_"Fuck, you, Kakashi." Kinmuku huffed between breaths and held her hands on her knees. The silver fox next to her panted heavily before glaring at the one-eyed copy nin. He merely smiled his signature smile before turning away._

_"So, shall we head out now?"_

_A group of nods answered him and he smiled. "Good, let's go then."_

_Present_

As the group walked along in a stoney silence Sakura figited nervously. Looking between Sasuke, Kakashi, Kinmuku, Tazuna, and the strange silver fox that trailed Kinmuku's heels she let out an exasperated sigh. Turning to Sasuke she perked up almost immediatly and pouted. "Sasuke-kun?"

Silence. The wall continued to walk.

"Would you like to go out on a date with me after this mission is over?"

A grunt, "No."

The girl slumped and she heard a snort behind her. Looking at the gold haired girl behind her she glared. She opened her mouth to say something when the gennin interrupted her.

"You really should use that brain that you are praised for. It would probably come in handy." She brushed past the pink haired girl and Sakura merely watched her stunned. The girl nearly never spoke to them, and when she did it was usually less than a sentence. Kinmuku turned her head to look at Sakura apatheticly.

"Your love for Uchiha will lead us to nothing more than failure. A team cannot function unless every part works together. We need to mesh, work together, and function properly. We are a shinobi frontal assualt team. Your obsession pulls that mesh apart. Get over it. Quickly please. The sooner we work together, the faster we can raise rank. The faster we raise rank, the more important and vital our missions become. We are the future of Hi no Kuni. Our next Daiyamo, our next true Hokage, more likely than not, the Rokudaime, will rise from our very generation. The greatest guards, the greatest leaders. We will lead in this time coming upon us. If you can't step up to the plate, then don't come up to play. This is a game for those who are serious.

"Learn the rules of the game. The in's and out's. The way to play dirty before you come in. If you don't know how to play, more likely than not, you're going to end up dead, and anyone underneath you is going to die too. Learn to act like a shinobi Sakura."

The pink haired gennin was crying after her tirade and Kinmuku rolled her eyes. "If you think that was tough you've never been through one of my oba-san's or otoji's lectures. Those can, and more likely than not, will make you weep. I've been through-"

Kakashi interupted her with a glare. "Rin, you need to be kinder to your teammates."

"I'll be kind to my teammates when they return the favor. If you're complaining about this," she gestured to the sniffling form of Sakura, "I merely gave her a push that I shouldn't of had to provide. You are her teacher, you are the one that should have given that push. I told her nothing more than what she would have heard sometime in her life. You just need to learn to teach us a bit faster so that we don't _die_. You are letting us live in the wrong picture. The instant one of us gets a promotion with that picture in our head we're going to end up killing the whole fucking team!"

"Language!" He snarled at her. He reached out and grabbed the front of her vest and lifted her up slightly off of the ground. Ignoring the ferocious snarls from Mashiro he pulled her towards him. "You are children. I want you to have your childhood for as long as you can."

"We are shinobi. We may have feelings but we are no longer children. The moment we put these hita-ate's on, our childhood was over. Teach us to live with our profession! Or do you want us to die on our first real mission!?"

Kakashi set her down and she stepped back glaring at him. "If we live with the image that shinobi are the heros, that it's a great proffesion, we will end up dead or worse. Do you want to see that!? We have entrused our lives to you. Are you going to let us down?"

Her hand hovered near her sword handle as she glared at her sensei. The man looked at Sakura who had gathered herself together and was watching the exchange between her sensei and teammate closely. Sasuke was watching the exchange as well but he watched his golden-haired teammate closely and warily.

Kinmuku shook her head and kneeled down Mashiro clambered up onto her shoulders and she nodded to Tazuna. "Sumimasen Tazuna-san." Walking over to him she positioned herself to the left of him keeping him between her and her team.

Mashiro growled out at the rest of Team 7 and they quickly stepped into line to follow. As they continued on their way a puddle came into view.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he eyed the puddle, _'It's a hot summer day, it hasn't rained in about two weeks, and even if it had, a puddle this size would not have lasted this long. So what is it doing here?'_ He noted quietly that Kinmuku's eyes had flashed over to the puddle and then returned to watching the road. Her hand floated over her kunai pouch and her eyes flickered every now and again.

As Kakashi passed the puddle two figures began to rise up silently from the puddle. As they emerged they leaped foward and the two let loose their chains from the armored gauntlents on their hands. The chains wrapped around Kakashi and one of the two shinobi grinned. "One down."

"Three to go!" The other one chanted. As they tugged the chains Kakashi was torn apart and Sakura let out a scream of terror. Kinmuku's hand flew to her sword hilt and she drew her sword settling into her sword stance. As the two brother's sped towards her she lept into action. Her sword flew in a blur of black blocking the strikes as best she could.

As she met in a clash of metal with the one with the gauntlet on his right arm she looked around for the brother. Her eyes widened as she noticed him towering over Sakura, aimed to kill her. Fazing out from her clash with the brother she appeared in front of Sakura and took a heavy wound to her shoulder by his left guantlet. Biting her lip to stop the scream of pain she slashed out at him with her sword and forced him back. Collapsing onto her knees she let out a hiss of pain and looked for Mashiro. The kitsune was standing in front of Tazuna snarling ferociously and was covered in several scratches.

She heard to clashes of metal followed by two thuds of something hitting the ground. Craning her head she saw Kakashi standing over the unconscious bodies of their two attackers. Standing up shakily she glared and removed her hand from her shoulder. Looking at the bright red blood that covered her hand she shuddered. She could see why her oba-san had a fear of the stuff.

Kakashi stepped towards her after noticing the purple liquid that edged the two brothers guantlets. "Rin, did you get hit by the gauntlets?"

A pained nod was his answer as she clutched her shoulder. Kakashi let out a sigh, "Looks like we have to stop, the poison is more likely than not lethal. We need to take Gingitsune back for treatment."

The girl shook her head for a moment. "Hold on Hatake-sensei. I can continue on if you'll give me a second." Placing her hand once more onto her shoulder and letting out a small hiss of pain she focused chakra to her hands and a light green glow enveloped her hand. Her hand hovered there for a second and as she pulled it away very slowly a blob of purplish goo came from her arm.

Removing a small vial from her vest she placed the poison in it and capped it. She placed the vial in the same pouch of her vest and she looked at the still bleeding wound. Sighing slightly she removed a roll of bandages and shrugged off her vest, placing it gently on the ground. Kakashi watched her interestedly as she rolled up the small sleeve of her shirt and began to wrap her shoulder expertly. Tying it off she let out a sigh and rolled her shoulders slightly.

Nodding to her team leader she shrugged her vest back on and stood up. "Alright, all better."

Kakashi looked at her strangely for a moment before turning to look at Tazuna. "I think you have something to tell us. These two are Kiri missing-nin. Chuunin. And are known as 'The Demon Brothers' in the bingo book. Care to explain?"

Tazuna gulped fearfully and opened his mouth, "I'm so very sorry. But we have such little money in the wave, the Daiyamo and I had to gather up all the money we've had saved up for a mission even this low paying. Please, keep the mission going. I beg of you! I have a daughter and grandson, if you stop now, I'll most likely die. And my daughter will live hating Konoha for the rest of her life and my grandson will grow up hating them too and train to fight Konoha!"

Kakashi exchanged a look with his gennin and sighed. "Most likely than not, a jounin will be coming after us next. Do you want to continue with the mission?" The gennin exchanged looks with one another and Kinmuku glared at Kakashi.

"I'm going one way or another. I'm not going to let these people down Hatake-sensei."

"I'm coming as well. If the idiot thinks she can handle it, I know I can."

"I'll come too!" Sakura added at the end, _'Cha! Sasuke-sun will love me for sure! I'm not gonna leave that bitch alone with him!__** That's right! You said it!**__' _Sakura nodded, inwardly pleased with herself.

Kakashi looked each of them eye to eye and nodded satisfied. "Alright, we shall continue the mission. But know now, this is an A-Rank mission, when your country gets back to its feet, Konoha will expect its full payment."

Tazuna nodded his head quickly and the group sighed. "Alright, let us continue on then." Kakashi said and the group returned to formation and walked steadily towards Nami no Kuni.

An hour passed and the group came upon a heavily fogged mass of water. Kakashi cocked his head when Tazuna let out a low whistle, like a call. When a small boat began to make its way towards them Kakashi's eye widened and he looked sharply at Tazuna.

As Tazuna climbed aboard the small boat Kakashi motioned for his team to do the same. They followed on warily and finally Kakashi climbed aboard and the person directing the boat pushed off and began to steer them steadily towards Nami no Kuni.

Sakura broke the silence with a small complaint. "This mist is so thick I can't see anything!" She complained and Kinmuku's eye twitched from where she sat at the head of the boat. Tazuna's head lowered as he murmured quietly, "You should be able to see the bridge soon."

As the boat continued through the mist a large form could quickly be seen. As the whole of Team 7 took it in Kinmuku spoke quietly, "Sugoi, that is a beautiful bridge Tazuna-san."

The boat driver spoke up, "If we drive along side the bridge, we'll be on a direct route to Nami no Kuni." As Sakura took in full view of the bridge she let out a yell, "Holy crap! That's gigantic!"

The boat rower glared at her, "Hey, keep quiet! There's a reason that I'm rowing instead of using the motor. If we get caught moving through here, we'll be in a shit load of trouble."

Sakura flushed shamefully and bowed her head.

Kakashi's eye narrowed and turned to look at Tazuna. "Tazuna-san," The older man bowed his head and Kakashi continued on, "Before we reach the pier, there is something that I have to ask you. Who is it that is after you, and why are they after you? We can still call off this mission when we get to shore."

The rest of the group turned to look at Tazuna and Mashiro's ears pricked in the direction of Tazuna but she remained looking forward out into the mist. Kinmuku as well pricked her ears to listen to Tazuna but remained watching out.

"An extremely terrible man, he's ruined the economy of wave to where it is now. Most of you probably should have heard of him. Marine transport bill-"

"Gatoh."

Tazuna looked sharply at blonde girl whose head was still turned away. "This country used to be beautiful. I came here once about four years ago. A friend of mine had some horrible things happen so we brought him here to calm down. How much of this place has Gatoh destroyed? How much of its beauty is gone?"

Tazuna swallowed, "A year ago, Gatoh came here, and our market has only crashed. He has stopped all our trade from going out, and because we can't get anything, nor can we send anything out. Our whole economy is crashing."

"Gatoh is one of the richest people in this world. He's from Gatoh Company, how could he do this?"

"He may be the president of marine transportation outside. But underground, he's a large drug provider, and he uses mercenaries and ninja's to buy out and take over companies and countries."

A low growl escaped from Kinmuku and Mashiro's lips. "So that bastard has destroyed this country's beauty?"

A tiny nod from Tazuna.

Mashiro snarled and looked around her. Kinmuku's chakra spiked and she glared angrily at the water. "I'll fucking kill him. This place was so peaceful before. I can't imagine it like you are describing it. This is just so fucking horrible." She turned her head to look at Tazuna her blue-gray eyes flashed and darkened to an almost black storm cloud color and Kakashi's eye narrowed, "I will do everything I can to help you Tazuna-san."

Kakashi's thoughts on the girl flew through his head,_ 'She has sensei's eyes! I've only ever seen that stormy blue on Minato-sensei! How did she get those eyes!? Minato-sensei told us that the Namikaze's had a unique eye-coloring, no one else could have that color! Just who is this Byakuya Rin really!?'_

Meanwhile Tazuna sighed gratefully, "Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me."

The girl nodded her head and turned to look at Kakashi. "Hatake-sensei, we have to keep this mission going. I don't care what happens. We have to bring Wave back."

Kakashi looked at her closely, "Why do you care so much? You've never shown interest in our missions before."

"I told you before. I have come to this country once before, it was a beautiful place, and it prospered. I want that to return for them, the people there are kind, so very kind. They do not deserve to be tortured. Please Hatake-sensei?" Her eyes were pleading as she looked at the older jounin.

Sighing he looked at the other two gennin on his team. "Do the two of you wish to keep the mission going, you will have mercenaries, ninja, and other possible even worse people coming after you. Do you want to keep going?"

Sasuke's onyx eyes met Kakashi's dark gray eye, "I want to keep going Kakashi."

Sakura nodded her head, "Yeah! We have to help Wave out."_** 'Sasuke-kun is sure to love us now! Cha!'**_

Kinmuku smiled slightly and stroked the still bristling Mashiro. "Hush Mashiro. We will help them to the best of our abilities."

Tazuna's eyes were wide and nearly brimming with tears. "Thank you! Thank you so much." Kakashi nodded his head and turned to look at his silver-haired student. He felt like he should know her from somewhere and that there was something important he was missing about her.

The rest of the boat-ride was silent as they hit the shore.

Climbing aboard onto the dock Tazuna nodded his head to the rower, "Thank you so much, Tsuji-san." The man nodded and turned away starting up the motor of his boat and disappearing.

The group turned and began to head out of the small town headed into the forest. As they traveled along the worn dirt path Kinmuku anxiously fingered her kunai pouch as she looked around. After a few moments Mashiro began to bristle before she froze and turned to look into the bushes. Kinmuku let loose the kunai she had been fingering resulting with a scream from Sakura.

As Kinmuku disappeared into the bushes and returned with a dead white rabbit Kakashi had tensed. _'That is a snow white hare! It should be brown, after all, it's the middle of summer. So it would have to...be...oh shit.'_

"Everyone get down now!"

As soon as the words left his mouth he pulled Tazuna down and his three students fell to the ground as a large silver blur flew over their heads. It landed with a thunk into a nearby tree and was quickly identified as a Zanbato. Kakashi's eye narrowed as he saw the form of a man land upon it, and as the gennin team and their client stood up he felt one of his students stiffen.

The man atop the sword wore a pair of baggy gray pants with a pair of black shinobi sandals encasing his feet. His pants went well above his waist and spread out after being tied off at the waist. Fore-arm guards took their home on his arms in a lovely shade of what was jokingly called 'Cow Camo' in Kiri. His torso was clearly seen and un-clothed. Bandages covered the man's lower face as his head turned towards them and his hita-ate, which bore the symbol of Kiri, was slanted slightly.

His voice rang out as he looked at the team of gennin, "So, what do we have here? A team of weak little gennin? Oh, but just who is this?" His eyes caught sight of Kakashi and his eye widened, "Momochi Zabuza."

"Ah, the famed Copy Cat Kakashi knows of little old me? I'm truly honored." He mock bowed from atop his sword before letting out a cruel laugh, "I'm afraid that I'm going to half to have you hand over the old man."

Kakashi glared angrily and pulled up his hita-ate opening up the eye that was previously closed. Zabuza's voice rung out mockingly once again, "Ah, the famed Sharingan, I get to see it so soon? Now I truly feel special." He smirked widely and never noticed the black haired gennin stiffening.

Sasuke's eyes were wide as he looked at Kakashi's spinning red eye. _'How!? How can he have the Sharingan? Only my family can have it, how did he get it!? Is he an Uchiha?'_

Kakashi sensing Sasuke's distress flicked his black eye to observe his student. "I'll explain to you someday Sasuke. But not right now. Now, get in formation and protect Tazuna. Do not engage Zabuza unless you cannot help it." The three gennin leaped into a triangle like formation around the old bridge builder and the silver fox circled the three protectively. Her lips where drawn in a snarl as she circled the group.

Sakura whimpered in fear as she looked around her. A great pressure rested on her and she knew that it was the killing intent of the two jounin. Her hand rested shakily near her kunai pouch as did Sasuke's. His eyes however were wide as he took in the two jounin glaring at each other and letting the killing intent rise high.

Kinmuku's left hand rested on her katana's hilt, her right hand seemed ready to do whatever, it rested by her hide in a half clenched fist and her arm was bent slightly. Her body leant forward just slightly as if she was ready to take off and spring at anything.

Zabuza smirked underneath his bandages as he took in the three gennin. "It looks like your gennin are about ready to shit themselves Kakashi. Did you not train them at all Kakashi? There's only one of them that looks remotely ready for this kind of stuff, and even then, they look pretty damned terrified."

Zabuza himself was speaking of Sasuke not being able to see Kinmuku as she had her back to him and had her eyes flicking around. He could not see her hand resting on her sword hilt, or the other hand clawed and ready to slash out at any living thing.

Kakashi didn't reply to his taunt and let fly 3 kunai. Zabuza smirked and grabbed sword hilt whipping it out of the tree and leaping away. He landed atop the lake smirking unseen. Kakashi glared at Zabzua, who only let his eyes crinkle in a grin as a heavy mist began to roll in and a deep baritone voice rang out over the group.

"_Kirigakure no Jutsu"_

"He's gone!" Sakura's voice was shocked as she looked at where Zabuza had formerly been standing. Kakashi took a step forward ignoring Sakura's cry of "Sensei!"

"He'll try to take me down first, but..." He trailed off and Sasuke spoke up.

"What is he?"

"Momochi Zabuza, known in Kirigakure bingo books, Kirigakure no Oni." Was Kinmuku's quite voice and Kakashi looked sharply at her, "Yes, Momochi Zabuza. He was formerly in Kiri's ANBU known as MIST. He's best known for his silent killing techniques."

Sasuke and Sakura shivered and Kinmuku blinked before slipping her eyes closed. Kakashi was about to tell her to wake up when he felt her chakra spread out in a searching motion.

Sakura shook in her fear and glanced fearfully up at Kakashi. "Silent?"

"Yes, as the name implies, it's killing that is executed quickly and entirely silent. You could be dead before you even realize it. On top of that, I can't use my Sharingan to full potential. Do not let your guard down."

He felt the distress of Sakura and Sasuke and sighed, "But if you fail, the worst that will happen is that you'll die."

Sakura glared at her sensei, "You're so carefree about us just dying! Our parents trust you with our lives! Are you just going to let them down!?"

"Sakura. You are the only one here with parents. Sasuke has no more family, neither do I, but I have a foster Uncle, Aunt, and Grandfather. I also have a brother figure, but not a true uncle. All my family is dead. You're the only one with a remotely whole family." Kinmuku snapped at her.

"The mist is getting thicker." It was stated quietly by Sasuke and he saw Kakashi, who was only a few feet from them disappeared. Tazuna looked at them, "Nami no Kuni is surrounded by ocean, a mist often rolls in."

Suddenly Zabuza's deep baritone voice rolled in again. "There are eight points on the human body." The voice startled the three gennin and Kinmuku motioned Mashiro silently and with a quick nod the fox disappeared into the trees but Kinmuku could see her silver fur crouching just along the tree line near the water. Turning her attention back she heard Sakura stutter quietly, "W-what?""

"The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, vein, collarbone, kidney, and heart. Which organ do you want to be struck at?"

Kinmuku shivered at the proximity of the voice and whipped around with her hand on her katana. Whipping it from her sheath she met Zabuza's Zanbato in a clash of sparks. His eyes widened slightly in surprise as did Kakashi's. The older man began to push his sword down on the gennin only to be met with the opposition of Kakashi's metal-guarded hand.

"I won't let you kill my comrades. You'll have to kill me first. And even after I'm dead I'll protect them."

Sasuke shuddered as he felt Kakashi's killing intent rise as did Zabuza's. They leapt away from the group of gennin and Kakashi focused his chakra and in a burst released it. _'I can't stand this! I feel like if I breath, or even blink I'll be killed in an instant. If I stay here much longer I might just loose my mind. I'd rather kill myself than be here much longer!'_ Sasuke's hands shakily grasped his kunai but Kakashi's voice brought him out of it.

"Sasuke. I just told you, I don't let my comrades die."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he felt Kinmuku's chakra next to him spike dangerously. He couldn't see her eyes as her bangs fell to hide her face but he could hear her grate her Katana out of its sheath. She settled into a stance beside Tazuna and looked at Zabuza angrily. "Kill him Kakashi-sensei! He'll kill us if you don't!"

Kakashi's eyes settled into a glare._ 'Don't you think I know that Gingitsune!'_

Zabuza let out a maniacal chuckle and looked straight towards Kakashi. Leaping away from them he landed upon the water and formed a single hand seal.

_"Mizu Bushin no Jutsu!"_

As four water clones took shape Kinmuku's eyes narrowed and her fingers fell into a cross hand sign. "_Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" _Five clones popped into existence next to her and she was about to charge forward when she heard Kakashi's order.

"Stay put. This is my fight." Kinmuku let out a grumble and watched the two older men fight it out. While Zabuza was armed with his Zanbato, Kakashi with his kunai. The two lunged at each other and blurred out of sight, meeting occasionally in a clash of sparks. When the two separated finally they stood panting slightly. Zabuza landed upon the water, quickly followed by Kakashi. As he ran through a string of hand seals he saw Kakashi doing the same.

Finally, the two called out, _"Suiton: Suiryuu Endan no Jutsu!"_

As the two water dragons rose they meet in a furious clash and exploded sending the water everyway. Suddenly Kakashi heard Sakura scream and turned his head to see water clones of Zabuza rushing towards them. He let a breath of relief pass as he saw one of Kinmuku's shadow clones swept her leg at them and caused them to disperse. But those moments he had looked away cost him.

_"Suriou no Jutsu."_ The voice was dark and Kakashi's head whipped up to see Zabuza's arm next to him and finally noticed that he was captured within a prison of water.

"Damn it. Sasuke, Sakura, Rin! Take Tazuna and run!" Kinmuku turned her head to look at Tazuna. "Tazuna-san. Do you mind if we get Hatake-sensei free?" With a shake of his head Kinmuku turned back to Kakashi.

"No can do Hatake-sensei. You told us before not to abandon a comrade. You're a comrade, we won't abandon you."

"You can't beat him! He is far above your level!"

"Shut up! We'll prove to you that we are stronger than you think!" The silver haired girl unsheathed her sword once more and the black steel glowed with a soft blue color that whirled around the sword, like wind. She smirked as she looked at Zabuza. Stepping forward she let out a small sentence, "So, Kiri no Oni, how do you propose to win? You have to keep a constant hold on Hatake-sensei, or else he'll get loose. So what do you propose to do?"

Zabuza let out a small growl, "You know of my reputation. Yet you think you can win against me? I am the Demon of the Bloody Mist. By the time I was your age my hands were soaked in blood. The blood of my academy fellows no less. Do you truly think you can win? Even ten percent of my power would be too much for you." To prove his point he summoned up another water clone and sent it at the girl. When her sword met the water sword the clone melted back into the water from which it was formed.

"I am more advanced then most gennin Momo-chan!" She grinned cheekily at the man and let loose a set of kunai at him.

Glaring, Zabuza pulled his hand free of the prison and leaped away. "Ha, your pretty good, but I could have kept him in there."

Kinmuku was about to leap at him again when Kakashi appeared in front of her. "He's mine now Rin. Go back and protect Tazuna."

As Kinmuku grumbled and blurred back to the older man Kakashi began a string of hand seals. Landing on the final seal he called out, _"Suiton: Daifubaku no Jutsu!"_

The explosion of water sent Zabuza flying into a tree and as Kakashi walked over to him Zabuza shuddered. "How? Can you see the future?"

"Yes, and your future now is death." As Kakashi raised his kunai to slit his throat two senbon flew through the air and struck Zabuza in the neck. A hunter-nin appeared on the branch of a nearby tree and addressed Kakashi. "Thank you for your assistance. I have been hunting Zabuza for sometime now."

Kakashi nodded but leaned down to check Zabuza for a pulse. Finding none he nodded once more to the ninja. "Alright. We'll leave him to you."

"Thank you." He said and picked up Zabuza's body and slung his arm over his shoulder before forming a single hand seal and disappearing in a swirl of wind. He missed the narrowed and calculated blue eyes watching him as he disappeared.

Kakashi turned to his team smiling his infamous one-eyed smile, but as he took a step towards them he collapsed onto the ground and only managed to hear the frightened cries of, "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Tazuna-san? How much farther to your house so that we may get Hatake-sensei a bed to rest in?" Tazuna nodded, "About five minutes from here." Kinmuku looked at Sasuke, "Help me carry him. I can't carry him on my own, my shoulder is still injured from earlier, Tazuna-san can't carry him, he's old and he's the client. And Sakura's too weak to carry him. So help me."

As Sasuke was left with no room to argue he picked the older man up by the legs and Kinmuku lifted his torso. As they headed to the house in silence one thought ran through their heads.

_'Just how much danger have we gotten ourselves into?'_

_Tazuna's house_

"Tsunami! We're home, and we need a room quickly, one of my escorts is not doing so well." A young woman came striding down the hall at her father's call. She was an average looking woman, a long black skirt, blue shoes, a pink skirt, and long dark blue almost black hair. She noticed Kakashi's unconscious form and motioned for the group to follow her. She lead them up a set of stairs and into an empty room with a small futon on the floor.

Sasuke and Kinmuku placed their unconscious sensei down on the futon before Kinmuku and Tsunami began to patch him up to the best of their abilities. When the silver haired jounin was patched up the group of gennin, Tazuna, and Tsunami sat next to him awaiting his awakening. After two hours Kakashi finally began to stir.

As he blinked open his eye to meet a pair of stormy blue eyes that blinked calmly into his single eye. "Good, you're awake. I'll go get the others." His silver-haired student stood up silently and left the room. He couldn't hear her telling the others anything but he heard the quick scooting back of chairs and rushed footsteps coming up the stairs. He turned his head to the door to see Sakura's pink headed form come rushing in. He waved his hand in greeting and tried to pull himself up into a sitting position.

He heard an angry intake of breath and felt the spike of chakra that he recognized as Rin's. "Hatake-sensei. You shouldn't sit up so soon. Tsunami-san and I worked hard on your injuries, wouldn't do for them to be pulled open again now would it?"

Kakashi nodded slightly before laying back down in fear of the wrath of his foxy student. Speaking of which he looked around for her fox companion and found it loyal circling it's owner's feet. When Sasuke and Tazuna entered the room he began to speak up.

"Well, since it looks like I'm immobile for a while, we'll have some difficulties. I'll have to train you up a bit for our next encounter that will surely come. But that will be a little hard now that I'm incapacitated."

He saw Kinmuku nod and narrowed his eyes slightly, "I'm sure your a little confused by what I mean, our next encounter." Seeing Sasuke and Sakura nod their heads slightly he sighed, "Zabuza is still alive."

"What! But I thought you said he was dead!" The exclamation came from Tazuna and he nodded, "Yes, but I've come to the conclusion that he was just put into a death-like state. Hunter-nins are deployed to kill missing nin to make sure that their village secrets don't get to other villages. They are supposed to burn the body where it falls, the hunter-nin that took Zabuza did not do that. He took him away, so I must assume that Zabuza is still alive."

Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke all looked relatively shocked, the former two more so than the later. Kinmuku's eyes were still closed so he couldn't see her feelings on the matter but he could see that she was tense. "I figured that much." She whispered, "I thought that hunter was suspicious." She shook slightly and clenched her fists. Suddenly the door slid open and a little boy walked in.

He was about up to Kinmuku's shoulder, and that was pushing it. He wore a pair of overalls over a white short-sleeved shirt and had a gray and blue striped fishing hat on top of his head. His black fair flopped out from under his hat and when he looked up they could see the coal black eyes that held their place in his eye sockets.

"Jiji, who are they?"

"Ah! Inari, where have you been?"

"The ocean Jiji. Who are they?"

"These are the ninja I hired from Konoha."

"What does it matter who you hire Jiji? They're going to die." The boy saw the golden haired girl rise up from her seat and turn towards him. Her hair shadowed her face but he could see the snarling silver fox at her feet.

"Mashiro. Hush." Her voice was icy and the fox at her feet immediately followed her master's instructions. The girl walked over to the little boy her face still hidden. But as she drew closer Inari could see the three whisker like marks on each of her cheeks.

"So, you think we're just going to die huh gaki? Well, do you?" Her voice seemed to be harsh as Inari took her words in. He could obviously see that she was waiting for an answer.

Turning away and blowing off her question he began to walk away but did not expect the firm and feminine hand that grasped his shoulder tightly.

"I asked you a question gaki." Inari was turned around and it was then that he saw the sun-kissed girl's eyes. They where a deep stormy blue as she glared down at the boy and he had to bite back a cruel retort.

"I don't care if you asked me a question. Let me go!" He felt the girl's grip tighten and tears began to well in his eyes from the pain.

"Rin stop it! You're hurting him!" The outburst came from the pink-haired girl sitting next to the injured man. He breathed in relief as he felt the girl's eyes slide off of him and onto the other girl.

"Fine." She released him and gathered the bristling fox at her feet into her arms. "Hatake-sensei, Mashiro and I will go patrol the area. Don't wait up for us. If we need to eat, we'll find something in the forest." The girl leaped out the window, her fox still in her arms and Inari let out a small scream running to the window. They where on the second story for Kami's sake! Did she want to kill herself?

He saw the girl land on her feet and straighten herself before her eyes meet the boy's and Inari had to withhold a gasp. The girl's eyes had changed again. Only now they were a deep black with a sprinkle of white, red, and silver throughout them. She turned and walked away into the night. But as she stepped into the moonlight Inari could swear he could see a fox tail coming out above her tailbone and two silver fox ears tipped in golden yellow appear on top of her head.

But what frightened him most was the deep black weasel that seemed to be twisting around her.

As the silver haired girl disappeared into the night he turned to look at the three other ninja that were now watching him. Miffed he turned and stormed out of the room he heard his grandfather call to him, "Inari! Where are you going?"

"To watch the ocean." Was his simple reply.

_With Kinmuku_

"That bastardis little brat! He knows next to nothing about us, and yet he goes off and assumes he knows everything about us!" She looked at her silver fox and continued on. As she came to a clearing with a sparkling lake that shimmered with the gentle breeze she collapsed down in front of it. Looking at her reflection she let out a soft gasp as she looked at her reflection.

Her eyes where a deep onyx, a little to much like Itachi's for her liking, but it had beautiful patterns of red, white, and silver specks. She brushed her hair out of her eyes to get a better view of them and she shuddered. They were beautiful.

Looking again at the silver fox next to her she let out a small whisper, "It's just you and me here Mashiro. Jiji, Otoji, Oba-san, Shin-onee-sensei, and Itachi-kun aren't here. You should stop suppressing your real form. But try to keep your power hidden. Don't want Kakashi rushing out here looking for the influx of yokai now do we?"

The fox nodded its head up and down before closing its golden yellow eyes in concentration. Slowly the fox began to grow and size and the tails thinned out and moved over to give some space for the other tails. When her eyes opened again Kinmuku couldn't help but smile.

They where a lovely icy blue frost color to match with her silver fur. "Mashiro-chan, do you ever think that even my own family would accept you like you are?"

Any watching persons would believe that the girl was crazy, speaking to a fox. That is if they hadn't gone into frenzy at the sight of a four-tailed fox.

"I do not know Kinmuku-sama. I'm sure that your family will accept you, Shin and Itachi, I can't be one hundred percent sure on. Shin I am sure would be able to look past it, if not at first, only a short time later. Itachi-kun, I truly don't know. I do not know him as you do, but I'm sure that if he cares about you like he should, he would be able to look past it." The fox's voice was very melodic and had a soft caring tone to it.

Kinmuku nodded her head, "Too true Mashiro. Too true. But if I may ask you, what is your personal opinion on Itachi-kun? You've always given me tidbits, but you've never actually told me."

The fox sighed and shook her head. "Kinmuku-sama, I could care less. As long as he doesn't harm you, and he makes you happy, I will stand him to the best of my abilities. But, if even once I get a bad feeling about him, he is going down."

The girl chuckled and shook her head, "You've spent too much time with Shin-onee-sensei." The fox rolled her eyes at her master and shook her head. "You've been spending too much time with that old fart of a grandfather. He seems to be rubbing off on you."

"Hey! Danzo-jiji is just a very impressing person. I can't help it if he rubs off on me. Besides, what of him has come off onto me?"

"Sadistic tendencies." Was her simple reply.


	7. A Week of Training

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto; I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

_Her Story_

_Chapter 7_

_Mission to Nami no Kuni_

_A Week of Training_

_Previously_

Striding past the simmering Uchiha her fox trailing at her heels they disappeared up the steps and entered the room she shared with Sakura that had been assigned to her about three hours earlier.

As she entered the room she let out a sigh and pulled out the clothing she slept in. Peeling off her clothes her pale skin shone in the moonlight of the night. Looking out she shivered and slipped on a pair of black shorts with a red stripe down the sides and a red beater. The outline of a fox tattoo could be seen through the beater's thin material, as well as small kanji on her shoulder blade meaning, 'The warrior betrayed'.

As she slipped onto her bed and Mashiro curled up next to her stomach she let out a small sigh. "Oyasumi, Tsuki-sama." As her eyes closed in the blissful peace of slumber she never even sensed the ebony haired boy silently exit the room without a word or a sound.

_Present_

_Next Morning_

As the bright sunlight of the morning hit the golden-haired girl's eyelids she blinked them open yawning and stretching. Scratching the back of her head she swung her legs off the side of her bed silently and looked over to her teammate's bed. The pink-haired girl was still sleeping and she couldn't help rolling her eyes when she noticed the mirror lying off to the side on Sakura's nightstand.

Standing up silently she noticed that Mashiro had left the room, probably outside hunting for breakfast. Stretching her arms again she pulled down her beater which had rid up in her sleep and exposed the tattoo holding back the Kyuubi on her stomach. Walking over to her pack she pulled out a fresh pair of pants and a shirt and headed out of the room and to the bathroom. Hearing nothing inside she pulled the door open just as Sasuke walked out of the bathroom.

The two teen's eyes widened as they froze and took in each other's appearances. Sasuke's hair was wet, like he had just come out of the shower and Kinmuku had to stifle a giggle. It seems that the two Uchiha's loved mints, for they both used the same minty shampoo. Kinmuku also noticed that he had no shirt on but he did have on a pair of boxer shorts. Again she stifled laughter at the sight, but for a different reason this time. He was so pale! Almost like Orochimaru from the pictures her Otoji and Oba-san had showed her of them together.

As Sasuke looked at his fellow teammate his eyes recalled the two tattoos he had seen on her back last night. The fox with nine-tails, it had to mean something, after all, one does not run around with a Kyuubi tattooed to their backs. He had noticed several times that the shirts she wore had the Kanji for 'Kyuu' or 'Kyuubi'. It had to mean something, and that other tattoo. 'The Warrior Betrayed', what did that mean? He looked down at his shorter teammate and smirked. "Just wake up dobe?"

"I woke up earlier than Sakura did. If you're going to be bitchy at me for not rising with the sun, be bitchy with her too. Now, you're in my way. I need a shower asshole." The shorter sun-kissed girl shoved him aside and out the door before slamming the door in his face. He heard the click of the lock and a small thought ran through his head, _'Man, she is bitchy in the morning. Wait. Why did she look like she was going to laugh a couple of times? And did she just call me an asshole?!'_

Clueless to what was running through Sasuke's mind Kinmuku pealed off her clothing as she turned on the water. She shook her head slightly and shivered before stepping into the shower and letting the cold water run over her. She had another of her nightmares last night. Horrible as always when she couldn't talk to her loved ones. She sighed and slumped against the shower wall. There was only one person outside of her who knew her family that she would be fine with. Inuzuka Kiba.

No one ever suspected anything, they were always at each other's throats around other people, but alone they were at least civil towards each other. Shaking her head slightly she grabbed the bottle of shampoo that Sakura had brought along, she hadn't felt the need to. Looking at the bottle she groaned. Cherry scented, lovely. Now she'd have to go out and make something so that she couldn't be found so easily.

Deciding that she could go a day smelling like a cherry she rubbed the shampoo into her scalp and her long golden hair. Rinsing out the soapy suds with the water she stepped out of the shower and pulled out the black towel she had brought with her and wrapped it around her soaked body. She slipped into her clothing quickly, a pair of night black cargo pants with several pockets that went into black combat boots. A lose long-sleeved white shirt with black and red flames on it. And a thin, black silk vest went over that.

The vest of hers was specially made, there was several pockets on the front for scrolls and kunai and metal plates between the black silk that contrasted on her white shirt, and the crimson red silk that hid under the black silk. On the back of the vest in blazing gold was the same Kanji tattooed on her back, 'The Warrior Betrayed'. Slipping on a pair of black metal-plated, finger-less, gloves over her long pale fingers she grinned into the mirror. Back in the room on her nightstand was all of her body-rings. Picking up her dirtied clothing she folded them and stepped out of the bathroom and into the hall.

Her hair, which was still wet, was clipped up in the back of her head to keep it from soaking her vest. Stepping into the room she shared with Sakura she saw that the girl was still asleep. A growl escaped her throat and she placed her clothing in her pack before walking over to the sleeping girl. She placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder before shaking the girl.

"Sun's up Haruno. Time to get up." The girl's eyes opened reluctantly but they snapped open when Kinmuku's shaking grew harsher. As she pushed her hand away from her shoulder she looked up to take in the girl's appearance and her eyes widened. She had never seen her fellow kunnochi with her hair up, she looked quite pretty if she had to be honest with herself. As the blonde girl turned around Sakura took in the writing on her back and felt her eyes widen.

'The Warrior Betrayed' or 'The Betrayed Warrior' as some people knew the story, was a story of a young warrior. When he had been born his father had been furious, for the father had always wanted a daughter. Cursing the child with all his being he named the child, 'Uragari' in his anger. When ever the child would try to walk to him he would glare and curse the child, and if he continued to come and reached him. He would strike and beat him.

Finally the child learned, and he began to learn the craft of the warrior. As the young boy grew into a young man the father began to see the error of his ways when the boy was a child. He attempted to speak to his child, but every time something would get in the way or the boy would ignore his father. One day, when the man finally asked why his son would not speak to him he answered with a simple, 'Some may forgive and forget, but the only things I can ever remember of my father is the one who sired me and struck and cursed at me. My otu-san, the one who raised me and who I will love unconditionally. The one who taught me what it means to be a man, the one who taught me my trade. Is the one who is my true father. I may forget this eventually, but when I do, I will not know who you are. For the only memories I have of you, are the ones everyone tells me to forget about, and to forgive you and move on. If I do that, I will never remember who you are. That is that, nothing more, nothing less.'

The man had never forgiven his father, so many people had never wanted to work with him or let him work for them, because he had been named by his father to be 'Betrayal'. So when he had his first child, the daughter his father had always wanted, he praised her, cared for her, and trained her in his trade as well. Many people believed the man to be the first ninja, but other's believed that the daughter he sired would be the one to give birth to the first ninja, for the stories of her said that she had been given six paths. That she would be the one to give life to the founder of the shinobi world.

Sakura shook herself. There was no way that Rin could know that story. She wasn't from a family that would have knowledge like that. And even if she was, why would she want to carry the name of 'The Warrior Betrayed' so proudly? Pondering that she grabbed her bag and headed to the bathroom to shower and change.

Kinmuku who had been placing her final ring in, the highest on her left ear, turned to watch Sakura leave. Shrugging her shoulders she snapped the ring into place and grabbed her Katana before strapping it on her back. Pulling open the door she stepped out of her room and headed down the hall. Passing the two males open door she stopped just short of passing it.

"Hatake-sensei, I'll be out training with Mashiro if you need me. I'll be back in time for breakfast." That said the girl continued on her way and reached the steps as Sasuke exited the room and followed after her as she headed down the steps. She headed out the door and at the bottom of the front porch steps she noticed Mashiro devouring a bloody rabbit. Rolling her eyes she seated herself next to her fox as she waited for her to finish.

Sasuke stepped outside and his eyes widened as he noticed the bloody carcass of the rabbit and the silver fox's red stained muzzle. When Mashiro stepped back from her meal and stretched Kinmuku set to burying what remained of the body. After hiding the remains she stood up and turned away from the house without recognition of Sasuke. They disappeared into the trees and Sasuke followed after, eager to see what the girl would be doing. He tried to be silent as possible; so that he could make sure he saw her real training methods.

As they walked along the trees Kinmuku stopped by a bush that seemed to catch her eye. Bending down next to the bush she examined the flora growing on it and she grinned. Removing a small scroll from her pouch she unrolled it and withdrew a small container of ink and a brush blackened from constant use. Dipping it into the ink she wrote out a seal on it and removed several of the flowers from the bush and sent a small about of chakra into the seal and flowers. As the flower sunk into it she rolled it back up and continued on her way stopping by several bushes and sealing more flowers and herbs.

Finally after what seemed some time to Sasuke the girl stopped and looked up into the sky. She made a quick about face and took off. Sasuke let out a small curse. She was heading right towards him. Looking around he could find no cover that would aptly hide him.

The girl slid to a stop in front of him and her fox landed next to her after a moment. Seeing the two glaring at him Sasuke swallowed uneasily. "Can I help you teme?" She asked angrily.

He straightened himself and tried to look as smug as possible, "I followed you hoping to see your training. Just to see what it is you do. But apparently you're just as useless as Sakura. Gathering herbs. Feh." He rolled his eyes and turned away, but as he did he could feel the girl send a punch at him but he didn't manage to get away in time.

Her punch landed strongly and firmly on his back and Sasuke stumbled forward from the strength in the punch. "Teme." She snarled and quickly strode past him.

They reached the house quickly with a tense silence between Kinmuku and Sasuke. As the two entered the house Kakashi looked up from his place at the table. Sending the two his customary eye-smile he said, "Good, you two are here on time. But, Rin, it doesn't look like you've done much training."

"It's a medical training that my Oba-san taught me. But I need to gather herbs, and I've heard that Nami no Kuni is the best place to get healing herbs. So, I felt now was the best time to stock up. And it turns out that it was smart of me to decide not to do my other training seeing as teme over here," She jerked her thumb at Sasuke who had seated himself at the table, "Decided to follow me in hopes of seeing what kind of training that I do."

Sakura who had seated herself next to Sasuke glared at the girl. "Don't call Sasuke-kun a teme!" Kinmuku glared at the pinkett and walked over to the table. There were four empty chairs, on for Tsunami, Tazuna, Inari, and herself she supposed. Looking up she saw Tsunami enter the room with a tray of food. Walking over she asked "Tsunami-san, would you like some help?"

With an appreciative nod from the older woman the girl headed into the kitchen and returned with another tray and began to set the food out. When Tsunami yelled out, "Dad! Inari! Breakfast!" The pitter patter of feet came down the stairs and Tazuna and Inari appeared. The two seated themselves at the table as did the two standing females.

Kinmuku took her place beside Kakashi and put a small amount of food on her plate after letting Tsunami, Inari, and Tazuna to get their own food. As the group dug in Kinmuku finished quickly but respectively waited for the others to finish before standing up and gathering up her dish and cleaning it before heading out the door once again and out into the sunshine.

She seated herself down on the front porch steps and watched as her ever energetic fox ran about in play. She heard the door slide open and three sets of feet emerge. Looking up she saw Sasuke, Sakura, and their handicapped teacher watching her. Cocking her head to the side in an animalistic like gesture she questioned, "Nani?"

"We are going out to train Rin. Seeing as Zabuza is still alive, we need to prepare for an attack." The girl nodded her head at her instructor's words and stood up brushing her pants off and let out a high pitched whistle causing Sasuke and Sakura, who were standing right beside her, to cover their ears and glare at her.

Mashiro, hearing her owner's call bolted over and the group headed out into the forest.

When they had gotten far enough in Kakashi stopped them and they looked at him confusedly. They were in a small clearing with several trees surrounding them. "Alright, here is a great spot for our training."

The group looked at each other and then to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei? What are we going to be doing?" Sakura asked.

"We will be climbing trees." He smiled his custom smile and the group sweat-dropped. Kinmuku's grew so large she almost fell over when Sakura asked her next question, "But we already know how to climb trees Kakashi-sensei. With our hands and feet."

"Ah, but we will be learning to be able to do so without either."

Kinmuku nodded, her oba-san had taught her how to do this, but practice was always good. Especially sense her chakra was constantly increasing in size. Pulling herself out of her thoughts she noticed that Kakashi had stopped his hobble up the tree and was now perched upside down on a nearby branch.

"All you must do, is focus your chakra to your feet and maintain it a steady rate and walk up the tree. It's easiest if you run up it at first." Chucking the three a kunai each it landed with a dull, 'thunk', into the ground at their feet.

Seeing the confused look on Sakura's face and a slightly annoyed look on Sasuke he continued to speak, "Use these to mark your progress. Start now." He watched as Sasuke and Sakura took off towards the tree and watched amusedly as Sasuke reached 10 feet before the tree began to splinter beneath him and he marked his growth.

"This isn't to hard at all." Came Sakura's breezy voice. Kakashi turned his head to see Sakura sitting on a branch equal in level to him.

"Well, it would seem that females are the best when it comes to control. I-" Hearing a snort of laughter his head snapped to look at his silver haired student who was standing in front of her tree with her eyes closed.

"What is so funny Rin?"

"Of course Sakura would have the best control. She has so little chakra, I'd be ashamed if she couldn't control it." Her eyes opened to stare coolly at her sensei and she shifted them to look at her pink-haired teammate.

"You mesuinu! You're just saying that because you're jealous! Besides what would you know! If you where a little smarter you would know that girls naturally have less chakra!"

Kakashi and Sasuke watched the foxy girl with slight interest as her eyes began to smolder an angry slate-grey color. "Let me explain it to you Haruno! Like you have downloaded in that book-smart brain of yours, chakra is the mixture of physical and spiritual energy! While it is true most guys are born physically stronger than females, most females are born more spiritually aware than males! The only reason why guys tend to have more chakra is because unlike several females, they actually train their bodies! They gain more spiritual energy in battles, but so do girls!"

Her glare intensified when she saw Sakura open her mouth to retort, "Iie! I'm not finished yet! You have no idea how many kunnochi actually want to be ninja! People like Senju Tsunade, one of the greatest Kunnochi ever, the Namekuji Sannin! She has a great hatred of kunnochi who only become one for the wrong reasons! I aspire to be like her, she is a great role model! Everything she does to make kunnochi look better, and you are ruining it!"

Kakashi hobbled down his tree and quickly appeared in front of his student, "Enough." He saw the girl glare up at him and saw that her eyes, which was normally a stormy blue color, was now a dark onyx black with deep red, silver, and white flecks.

"And if I say it's not enough Hatake Kakashi? What would you do then?" Her voice was low and snarling and Kakashi took in her slitted, fox-like pupils. "Calm down, now."

Turning, he looked to see Sakura who was watching the girl wide-eyed. Kinmuku shook off Kakashi's hand from her shoulder and stormed away. The silver fox, Mashiro, stood just on the edge of the clearing and he saw the girl shake her head at the fox. When it shrunk back Kakashi could tell, it had wanted to go with her, but she wouldn't let it.

He saw a blaze of flames not too far away and he could feel the spike of Sasuke's chakra as he watched the flames circle up in a spiraling motion in the air. He shook his head sadly and turned away. "Alright then, we will continue training tomorrow. Do what you want to do for now Sasuke. Sakura, come with me." The pink-haired girl merely shook slightly before following her sensei and looked back only once to see Sasuke take off in the direction that Kinmuku had ran off in.

With Kinmuku she could feel Mashiro just on the edge of the clearing and she let a small smile grace her face. The fox was always with her.

She let her eyes close and she let the flames take up around her once more, they swirled around her and seemed to dance and spiral around her. But there wasn't only fire spiraling her, blue dragons of water, brown muddy dragons of earth, a swirling mass of leaves for wind surrounded her taking on the form of another dragon, and a large yellow, crackling dragon flew around her. As they flew up into the air and met in a clash of angry elements she let herself fall to the earth and trembled slightly.

Her eyes closed as her knees hit the earth and she let out a small choked sob. Her arms curled around herself and she began to mumble incoherently to herself and Sasuke drew closer to hear what it was she was saying. He had to say, he was in awe of the girl, the dragons that had flown around her. He had to doubt if even the Hokage would be able to do something like that.

"Oba-san, otoji, jiji... why can't you be here right now? It hurts, they keep coming back... I just want to go home. I need to see you guys... you and okaa-san, and otu-san." She shivered and Sasuke felt himself resisting the urge to hug her. But he couldn't help but be curious, just who was her mother and father? Who was she really?


	8. Battle on the Bridge

"Normal Speak"

_'Thoughts'_

_**"Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning speaking"**_

_**'Kyuubi/ Other demon/ Greater Summoning thinking'**_

_"Jutsu/Emphasis"_

"_New Voice speaking"_

'_New Voice thinking'_

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto; I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

A/N: By the by, just to let you guys know. Since I can't find a very good translator for jutsu, I'm going to start using it in English, for example, _"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique". _Don't be angry with me for it, I have one site that has a good list of them, and that is only jutsu that have been used in Naruto. I don't want to be limited to that, so I'll have to use it in English. Gomen.

_Her Story_

_Chapter 8_

_Battle On the Bridge _

_Previously_

Her eyes closed as her knees hit the earth and she let out a small choked sob. Her arms curled around herself and she began to mumble incoherently to herself and Sasuke drew closer to hear what it was she was saying. He had to say, he was in awe of the girl, the dragons that had flown around her. He had to doubt if even the Hokage would be able to do something like that.

"Oba-san, otoji, jiji... why can't you be here right now? It hurts, they keep coming back... I just want to go home. I need to see you guys... you and okaa-san, and otu-san." She shivered and Sasuke felt himself resisting the urge to hug her. But he couldn't help but be curious, just who was her mother and father? Who was she really?

_Present_

"Rin."

The single, cold and quiet word escaped from Sasuke's lips as he stared disdainfully at the shivering girl. He noticed her freeze and tense before her head turned very slowly to look up at him through her bangs.

"Sasuke. What did you hear?" Her voice trembled as she spoke but Sasuke took no notice as he caught sight of her eyes. The question escaped him before he could stop it.

"What happened to your eyes?"

He saw her tense once more and saw the dark onyx eyes fade from her eyes to be replaced with what was normally seen on her face. He heard the snarls of her fox and turned his head to see the fox snarling at him from where it stood, ten feet away.

"Mashiro. Calm down. Sasuke, you didn't answer my question. What did you hear?" Her voice was fearful, that much he could tell. He watched her squirm from underneath his vision and couldn't help let a spark of amusement spread through him.

"Why would you want your family here now? They aren't shinobi I'm sure, they would probably only die here. And your Okaa-san and Otu-san, they're dead aren't they? How would you see them?"

"How I treat my parents is a way you may never know. They have passed on yes, but my Okaa-san and Otu-san are still in my family's hearts. Because of that, they will not truly be dead until they leave everyone's hearts. And you shouldn't assume, that my family are not shinobi. My oba-san has taught me the healing arts, my otoji and jiji have helped me with ninjutsu. My nii-san has helped me with taijutsu. And Ita-kun has helped me with my genjutsu. We are a family based on the shinobi lifestyle."

He saw a shudder pass through her and watched her rise from her position on the earth. "What you saw tonight, and what you have heard I hope you never remember."

It was the last thing he heard before he blacked out from a chop to the back of his neck and crumpling to the earth. Kinmuku sighed and let her hands become coated in a green glow and placed it to his forehead, _"Healing Arts: Locking the Memory"_, she looked down as she saw his face crinkle up and she sighed. The only way he would ever remember this, would be if something triggered his memories.

Sighing she looked at her silver companion and closed her eyes. "Gomen Mashiro. Gomen." She let her eyes close and fell back into the soft grass and watched the clouds pass by overhead.

Kakashi, who had lead his pink-haired gennin away from his other kunnochi, sighed. The girl still looked stricken by what her comrade had said.

"Sakura, I know this may not be the best thing to say to you at this moment. But Rin was right. You can't keep being a kunnochi with how you are training. I give you time to do what you want, so that you may train. Just what is it that you use your free time for?"

He saw Sakura bow her head and could see her lips move, mumbling something incoherently. "What was that Sakura? You're mumbling."

"I said I'm usually spending time with my family, or I'm watching Sasuke."

"Ah...and there in lies your problem Sakura. We are going to get you up to speed. I want you to run up these trees, for as long as you possibly can, so that we can get you up to speed with the others. This will increase the amount of chakra that you have, and when we get back to Konoha, we'll see about getting you another trainer. So, you stay here and do your training while I go see what your other two teammates are doing."

Sakura nodded her head sadly and withdrew a kunai before following her sensei's instructions and making her way up her tree. Kakashi let a small smile grace his features before turning away and looking for his other two students. Heading in the direction that he had seen his students head off and quickly set out in the same direction.

He came across a small clearing and could see Sasuke under a tree, out like a rock. Rin was sitting in the center of the clearing and he could see winds swirling around her. As he looked around the clearing again he also could see Mashiro sitting not to far off, on top of a flat rock.

"Rin!"

Her head whipped up and her eyes snapped open, capturing Kakashi in their gaze. "Hatake-sensei? How can I help you?"

"What happened to Sasuke?"

"Sasuke got hit in the head."

"How did Sasuke get hit in the head?"

"Spar." Her answer was short and clipped as she stood up and brushed off her pant legs. "Will you take him back to the house Hatake-sensei? I'm gonna go ahead and head back, I might as well help out there while I can. I'll guard Tazuna-san tomorrow too."

With a slight motion of her hand Mashiro leaped off of her rock and trotted over to her master and the two took off back towards the house. The following days took on a regular routine. Team Seven would wake up, they would eat breakfast, then Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi would head out to train. Tazuna and Kinmuku would head out to the bridge, return for dinner. Kinmuku would head out and get in two hours of training before returning to restart the routine.

Only tonight would change that.

"Kakashi-san. I wanted to ask you why it was that you stayed, even after I lied about the mission details. I figure that the girl had a large part in it, but why else?"

Kakashi closed his one visible eye and placed his hands on top of one another before resting his chin on them. "'Not doing right when you know it's right is the cowards way. ''There are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander.' That is the teaching of the Yondaime Hokage." Tazuna and Tsunami cocked their heads watching the cycloptic jounin. The group never even noticed the blonde kunnochi tense up.

"Your Hokage is wise indeed then." Tazuna said.

"He was. He was killed twelve years ago when we were attacked. Many people died. But in the end it was for the best." Inari looked at the man before turning his head to look at the gold-haired girl who was eying him carefully.

"Why?" Inari's voice trembled and tears threatened in his eyes. As memories of his father assaulted him he let the tears fall.

"Nani?"

"Why are you trying so hard? You can't beat Gatoh's men! No matter what you do! No matter how hard you try...no matter how many kind words you say...Weak people always lose against strong people! You don't know anything about this country anyways! Why do you care?" He was standing now, and the rest of the people at the table took in the blonde haired gennin and boy carefully with wide-eyes.

"Shut up. Why should we not care?" The voice was harsh as Inari's head snapped up to glare at the sun-kissed gennin. "I care, because I have seen this place before Gatoh came to take over. I feel for this country, I truly do. I'm positive that you don't remember me Inari-san, but I met you and your father before. I remember both of you quite well. Your ojii-san told us the story of what happened to your father."

Tears threatened in the girls eyes and she shook her head, "I know what happened, and I feel no pity for you. There are people that have had worse things happen to them. The members of my family have all at some point in time been a guard or a shinobi. They have gone through so much more than you probably ever will. Understood? There are always going to be people who have it worse than you."

She whipped around and stalked out the door. There was a clicking of claws on the stairs and the group of people turned to look at the silver fox that stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs. Her head snapped over to look at the group before disappearing out the door after her master. Sasuke stood up to follow her but a strong hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Leave her alone, she needs her time." Sasuke turned to glare at his sensei and opened his mouth to retort when the silver fox slunk back inside with her head hung low. Sasuke looked at the fox for a moment and its head lifted and dark amber eyes glared at him. She padded up the stairs again and the group settled into silence. Inari took off out of the room and out onto the back porch to watch the ocean.

_Kinmuku_

"Damn insufferable gaki! Kaiza-san would be so disappointed with him!" Kinmuku snarled and punched a tree ferociously. She rested her forehead onto the tree and let her eyes close and huffed angrily. Pulling her head back she turned and rested her back on the tree and looked up at the stars from beneath the tree. "Kaiza-san, I know what you told him, why won't he listen?"

_Flashback_

"What the hell do you think you're doing you assholes?" A little girl screamed as three boys tossed the dog into the water before pushing the boy in. "Do you think you're cool trying to kill someone?"

The boys stuttered slightly and the girl shoved past them and tossed off her pack and leaped into the water to save the little boy. She pushed through the water and grabbed hold of his collar. Tugging him upwards she let out a bit of her air and caused the bubbles to go up around her. Pushing up the pulled him up after her and surfaced, spluttering and gasping for air.

Fuzzily she could see a man kneeling down on the dock and let out a small strangled gasp, "Help." Feeling a hand pull her up and remove the weight of the young boy from her she let her eyes close.

"Thank you," She breathed out.

The man who pulled the two out looked strangely at them, turning his head he saw the group of boys who had shoved the young boy into the water run off, after the dog that had gotten out of the water and was running from the water.

Sighing he lifted the two children up and headed back to his camp. Once he reached it he sat the two children down in front of the fire and as the time passed he saw the young girl stir. Her eyes flicked open and she took in her position.

Sitting bolt upright she looked at the man across the fire. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"My name is Kaiza, you are at my camp. Who are you?" He said.

"I am Uzumaki Kinmuku," She looked carefully at him. The man nodded his head and handed her a skewered fish.

Taking it she bit into it and slid the fish off the stick chewing and swallowing. "Arigatou, Kaiza-san. I must go soon, I shall wait for the other boy to wake up, but then I have to go find my family. I was just searching for them when I saw those baka's pushing the boy into the water."

They heard a shuffling sound and the two turned their heads to see the little boy wake up. "Ah, I see you are awake. Are you alright gaki?"

The boy nodded his head, "Arigatou for saving me sir."

"Ah, no. I only pulled you out of the water, this girl here saved you. But if I may so ask, why was it that those boys where doing what they did to you?"

"Pochi, my dog, they wanted him. But he was my only friend. And then they threw him into the water, but I couldn't save him. I was so scared!"

"It's alright..."

"Inari."

"Right, it's alright Inari-kun. Any kid your age would be afraid, but if you are to be a man-"

"Ahem."

"Right, if you are to be a strong person. You must protect what is precious to you, with your two arms. No matter how tough, how sad, how difficult, you must even if you lose your life."

"Strong words Kaiza-san. I must go, gomen, but I hope to see you again sometime." The blonde-haired girl stood up and stretched slightly. "Ja, Inari-kun, Kaiza-san!" The girl took off and they heard a slight cheer far off.

"Oba-san! Otoji! Over here!"

Kinmuku looked at her aunt and uncle. "Gaki! Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you."

"Gomen Otoji. I took a walk and saw some baka's terrorizing this kid, they nearly killed him! So of course I had to save him! And..."

_End Flashback _

_(Linebreak)_

_Present_

Kinmuku smiled as her memories faded away to let her slip into a light comforting sleep.

When she awoke the next morning, her eyes snapped open and she slapped the hand that was mere inches from her. She felt the hand tense and she finally took in the form of the person in front of her.

"I'm sorry. I did not know that you where awake."

"I only awoke when your hand came to close for comfort."

The person in front of her had long silky raven colored hair with a black band around it's throat. The person was wearing a long pink kimono with floral patterns on the kimono. "Gomen for interrupting your sleep then. But, if you are not careful you will catch a cold out here."

The girl shook her head and looked at the person. "I'm sorry sir. But I am not comfortable speaking to you when I do not know your name." She nearly smiled at the shocked look that passed over his face.

"You do not think I am a female?"

"No, there are a few key points that you are missing, and a few others that you have. For one, you have no boobs, and you have an Adam's apple. So, unless you are some type of hermaphrodite, you are clearly male."

The boy nodded, "Okay then, my name is Haku, you are...?"

"Rin, Byakuya Rin."

Haku nodded his head, "Well met, Gingitsune-san."

"Haku-san, what is it that you are doing out here?"

"Oh, I was collecting herbs for someone. He was injured recently and he needs to heal quickly."

"Haku-san, why is it that you would do this for him?"

"For who?"

"Momochi-san." She smiled when she saw Haku tense and waved it off. "Do not worry Haku-san, I will not harm you. I am merely curious as to why you would go to such great lengths to help him out. What is it that he has done to make you do this for him?"

"He is a precious person to me. I would give my life for him, do you have anyone you would do that for?"

She thought of her family, their images flashing through her heads."Of course, my Oba-san, Jiji, Otoji, Shin-onee-sensei, and Ita-kun. Shijimi-sama too!" She smiled brightly at him, "I would give my life for any of them." Haku nodded his head, "What about your team?"

Her bangs fell into her eyes shadowing the stormy sea blue eyes from view, "I am not sure I would give my life for them. They would more likely than not do the same for me, why should I do the same for them? Haku-san, the only reason I am a shinobi, is because my Oba-san and Otoji wanted me to be prepared." She shook her head, "No, my team is not precious to me."

Haku nodded his head. "I must go Rin-san. Sayonara." Haku stood up and started to walk away.

"Haku-san," Her voice stopped Haku and he turned his head to look at her, "Hai?"

"I feel that...under different circumstances...we could have been friends." Haku's eyes widened and he turned around completely only to find the girl gone. He smiled slightly, "I feel that too Rin-san. I feel that too." Turning he walked away leaving the empty clearing.

_Tazuna's House_

As Kinmuku walked up to the house she seated herself on the porch step and leaned her head against a pole on the porch letting out a sigh. Her eyes closed and she felt a slight tingle at the back of her mind and absent-mindedly noted the mint and cherry scent behind her. When she felt a hand on her shoulder she jumped and whipped around a fierce glare on her face.

When she took note of whom it was she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Can I help you?" Sasuke and Sakura looked at her disdainfully and Kinmuku had to restrain a snarl.

"Where did you go last night?" It was Sasuke's arrogant voice.

"Out. Not that it's any of your business alright? Now leave me be, I'm tired and I need to talk with Mashiro." The girl took a few steps past the other two gennin before she felt a warm, strong presence on her wrist. Looking down she could see the pale hand that belonged to Sasuke gripping her wrist tightly.

"We have questions for you, and we want answers."

She made an attempt to shake him off and only managed to make him grip her wrist tighter, "Listen, I need sleep. If you don't want to piss me off right now, you'll let me go. And let me get my sleep." With an angry jerk of her arm she pulled it free of Sasuke's hand and disappeared into the house and up the stairs, into the room she shared with Sakura.

She could hear her two teammate's feet clattering against the hardwood floor as they followed after her. Slamming the door in the faces of her two teammates she locked it and walked to her bed collapsing on it in a mass of limbs. Hearing a soft whine her eyes cracked open and she met eyes with her silver-furred friend and let out a sigh. "Help me Mashiro. Please."

The fox nodded her head and stretched out covering her master up with her light silver fur.

Outside the door Sasuke glared angrily at the door. Kakashi, hearing a ruckus upstairs came to investigate and found the two gennin outside the door. Cocking his head to the side he questioned them.

"What is going on up here?"

"She locked us out Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said looking angrily at the door.

"So she's back? Well, I suppose I can unlock the door then, wouldn't do to let Sakura be locked out of her room." With a small amount of focused chakra he unlocked the door with a soft click and Sakura quickly opened the door. Stepping into the room quickly she looked about and saw the long silver fox stretched out on her teammate's bed.

Looking at it for any sight of the smaller girl she noticed the black boots that were her teammate's customary foot-ware poking out from the edge of the bed. Turning her head back she saw that Kakashi had once more disappeared and motioned Sasuke in.

As the boy stepped in he came up to his pink-haired teammate and looked down at the sun and moon-kissed pair. Mashiro was covering a good portion of Rin's body, not allowing either of them to see anything. Sakura took a step forward and lifted a hand shakily to wake her teammate. When the girl shifted Sakura let out a soft meep when she noticed her teammate's open eyes.

"I told you to leave me alone. Why can you not let me sleep?" Her voice was groggy and her eyes dropped as she looked at the two of them.

"We want answers from you Rin."

The girl groaned and looked at the alarm that Tsunami had given the two girls. She had time to be able to sleep, and they wouldn't let her do it. Staring tiredly at them she said quietly, "If I answer the questions I feel like answering, will you leave me alone? I promise to give you at least one answer if you will leave me be."

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances before nodding.

"Fine, ask your questions then." She snapped. Sasuke spoke up first, "Where did you go last night?"

"Out to gather my thoughts and remember a long gone friend."

Sasuke, looking un-pleased with the answer nodded to Sakura. "How much chakra do you have, you can control your chakra so well, but you never seem to be tired. How do you do that?"

The girl glared at Sakura through her tired eyes, "I have very much chakra Sakura. I can control it, because everyday of my life I am practicing my control with the most difficult exercises that I can get. I train to get my chakra; I also have a...special condition...that allows me to get chakra constantly. Even now I am getting minute amounts that can't be picked up because the amount is so small."

Sasuke glared, "What is this condition? What would I have to do to get it?"

"My condition is none of your concern. And if you where to attempt to get my condition, you would die. It is something that if it is not done at birth, the body cannot contort to grow with it." She snapped angrily. "Now leave me, I need my sleep if I am to be of any help ever again."

She turned away from the two and went over to her bag. She rummaged through it pulling out a set knee-length black sport shorts and a crimson red cammy. Roughly shoving past the two she headed down the hall to the bathroom. Letting the door click shut she locked it and quickly began to undress herself. Shaking her head and sending her hair flailing about her she turned on the shower and let the cool water rush over her body.

'_Why can't they just leave me alone? I can only stand so much, and I'm coming really close to just giving up on them. I don't want to have to put up with their shit anymore! Hopefully Hatake-sensei will nominate us for the upcoming chuunin exams. I'll finally be able to leave and get on my way of becoming a guard for Shijimi-sama.'_

Her thoughts traveled away as she rubbed her shampoo into her scalp roughly, after washing it out she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her puffy black towel around her.

Pulling on her under-garments she pulled the black shorts on and quickly pulled on her cammy. Looking into the mirror she pulled her hair back away from her face and bound it with a thin leather string.

Her key for the house dangled behind the jade-green gem she had been given by Tsunade. Lifting her key up she smiled slightly and rubbed her finger along the inscriptions upon it.

She recalled the key she had given Itachi, the inscriptions were very different from what she had thought it would be.

'_Live life to the fullest'._

She smiled slightly and stepped out of the bathroom heading down the hall to her shared room with Sakura. She could smell the lunch that Tsunami was cooking downstairs and walked on to her shared room.

Seating herself on her bed she stroked the fur of her companion sighing slightly. Laying herself down on her bed she let out a soft sigh and slipped into a deep, almost meditative sleep. When her eyes opened again, she was no-where near Tazuna's home.

_(Line break)_

_Kinmuku's Mindscape_

Kinmuku looked wildly around her, she was in a dark sewer-like area. Closing her eyes she opened them again, hoping to wake back up in her bed at Tazuna's home. It was not so, and she took in the sewer's appearance.

There was thin, dark crimson red pipes sprouting from the walls and connecting to larger light-blue pipes that ran throughout the sewer. She ran her hand along the wall and let her feet make small splashing sounds in the ankle deep water.

Heading down the hall she noticed that the red pipes began to come in larger clusters as she approached a strange light at the end of the sewer tunnel. As she reached it she stepped into a large room. There was a barred cage that went from floor to roof and in the center of the cage, holding the cage closed was a very small paper with the kanji for 'Seal' on it.

Stepping forward ever so slowly she noticed a pair of slanted, scarlet-red eyes peering at her from between the cage bars.

"Hello?"

As she reached the front of the bars she saw a glint in the darkness. Without warning a large pair of claws shot forward stopping only inches from her face. There was a small flinch in her face and she looked into the scarlet-red eyes before her.

"**You are different than I expected mortal."**

"And what did you expect of me Kyuubi-san? For me to run screaming?"

"**What reason do I have to answer your questions mortal?"**

"I have helped your kin, Mashiro, the Yonbi Kitsune who travels with me. You are also my tenant, and therefore while I may not control you, I do, to a limited amount, control any and all freedom you have."

"**Ah…Brave words for one of a mortal stature. What is the name of the one who is brave enough, if not stupid enough, to stand up to myself? Kyuubi no Yoko."**

"I am Uzumaki Namikaze Kinmuku to those who truly know me, and Byakuya Rin to those of Konohagakure no Sato."

"**I have one question for you mortal. Why is it that you have come here?"**

Kinmuku cocked her head to the side, "Did not you bring me here?"

"_No, young Uzumaki, I have brought you here. You have just been unfortunate enough to meet with this furry, ugly, overgrown red rabbit after you had been called here."_

Kinmuku turned around looking at the figure addressing her. It was a tall woman with rusty red hair with streaks of black run through it. She had a pair of olive shaped golden-amber eyes and thinly arched eyebrows. Her face was angular and had no baby-fat left on it.

Her torso was covered in a black mesh shirt underneath a v-neck long-sleeved white shirt. She had on a black skirt that flowed down to her knees that gave way to her long pale legs. A pair of strappy black heels supported her legs and her toe-nails where painted a deep onyx black.

Holding out an equally pale hand to Kinmuku she grasped it noticing that her fingers were long and her nails where painted an onyx-black to match her toes.

"Who are you?"

"_I am the guardian that appears in every member of the Uzumaki clan. Your Kekkei Genkai, as I know you have now activated, allows you, to some extent, control the elements. It also allows a spirit of your natural element to enter your body, and the spirit will teach you to gain power in your natural element."_

"_There is a rare occasion however, when an Uzumaki has two standout elements. When that happens, two spirits will be in the body instead of the one. The problem here though, is that a soul can only ever have two spirits in the body at one time. And for one spirit to leave the body, would end up killing the host."_

"_You are one of the rare few who have two elements. But, you already had one soul in you when it was learned what your elements where. Your elements are Water and Wind, an unusual combination. There would have been myself and the other element explaining it to you, but you already have Kyuubi in your body."_

The woman took a deep breath and looked at Kinmuku for her reaction.

"So what does this mean? Have one of my elements been taken away because I have Kyuubi in me?" She glanced back at the monstrous fox behind her. "Surely the spirit world wouldn't attempt to force three souls into me?"

The woman let out a laugh and shook her head. _"No, of course not. You where amazingly lucky. Despite what many people believe, Kyuubi no Kitsune is not a spirit of fire. He is in fact a water spirit."_

"Really? You would think what with the red fur and all, that he would be a fire spirit."

"**You mortals truly have a small mental capacity. Just because something has a red coat, or something like that, does not make them fire. Kitsune are actually almost always Water or Earth spirits. I have a red coat because that is what my father had; he passed it onto me, along with his water affinity."**

Kinmuku nodded her head, "I am sorry then Kyuubi-san."

"_Bah! That rabbit deserves no apologies. Don't worry about offending him, he is too prideful for his own good. You need not worry about it. You see, since we could not arrange the two spirits that would train you, they sent me. I am to be your wind spirit. I have worked with a few water spirits before, when my previous hosts have passed away. So, Kyuubi and myself will be teaching you to control your elements."_

"**I will do no such thing woman. Why should I feel the need, you have no power over me."**

"_I may not, but your leader, your commander, Inari-sama does. While your summoner holds some degree of power over your physical manifestation, he holds no power over your spirit. Kami-sama spoke with Inari-sama to gain his permission to use you as a spirit guide. Your lord has agreed."_

Kyuubi let out a small curse before narrowing his eyes at the woman, **"Fine. I am not stupid enough to refuse a direct order from Inari-sama. I will train her in the water arts, but she must be a master of your own before I even begin the basics with her."**

The woman nodded her head. "Then may I leave now? I am sure I am need back in the land of the living."

The woman nodded and had turned away to leave when Kinmuku spoke up again, "May I know the two of your names?"

"_My name is Kanpuu."_ Kinmuku nodded and turned to look at Kyuubi.

"**Why do you look at me human? You know who I am."**

"I know who you are, your ranking. But I do not know your name."

Kyuubi looked down carefully at the girl, **"I am Tsukiyo. Son of Lord Mangetsu and Lady Kangetsu."**

Kinmuku nodded her head, "It is good to meet you, Kanpuu-san, Tsukiyo-san." She disappeared out of halls leaving the two spirits within her to their business.

_(Line Break)_

_Tazuna's House_

Kinmuku sat up slowly, stretching and yawning widely. Rubbing her left eye of sleep she looked out the window to notice the setting sun. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she dressed herself slowly and headed out of the room and downstairs.

She could hear voices chatting lightly downstairs and stepped down the stairs. She looked into the dinning area to see the group sitting around talking lightly, stepping in she noticed Kakashi look up and nod at her. Sliding into the empty chair next to Kakashi she let out a small yawn to let them know she was there.

Sasuke and Sakura looked to see their teammate sitting next to Kakashi before turning away to re-enter their conversation.

Mashiro, who had been sitting just beside the door lifted her head and watched her master before letting her head sink back down with a foxy smile on her face.

Kinmuku watched as Tsunami entered the room, trays of food in her hands. As the group settled in to eat, Inari stepped into the room and sat at the table across from Kinmuku. The group of people tensed, waiting for an explosion.

The blonde continued on, acting like nothing was happening. Inari looked at her carefully before letting himself fill his plate. With his act the rest of the group relaxed and continued on with their meal.

As Kinmuku finished she yawned stretching again. Waiting for the rest of the group to finish up she watched as they ate, carefully observing what they did. She felt Kakashi nudge her side and looked up to see her sensei standing up.

"May Rin-chan and myself be excused Tsunami-san?"

"O-of course Kakashi-san." She looked surprised and with that Kinmuku stood up very slowly and followed her sensei out the front door. When Mashiro moved to follow she waved her down, calming the fox.

"What can I help you with Hatake-sensei?"

"How do you know Inari-kun's father?"

"I told you this already; I met him when I came to wave a long time ago."

"Fine, why is it that you are so tired all of a sudden. You always seem to want nothing more than sleep."

"It is the arising of something within me Hatake-sensei. My tiredness is just a small…side-effect of this. I can't stop it, and even if I could, I wouldn't." Kakashi glared at her and shook his head. "Why is it that you don't seem to want to trust us?"

"It is not that I don't want to trust you. It is that I don't want to hurt anyone when I leave for my dream when the time comes. Besides that, there is no reason for me to want to trust you. What have you done to make me want to trust you? Sasuke and Sakura only try to ignore me, and when they aren't, they are making things difficult for me."

Kakashi shook his head, "You have to give them a chance Rin. You know a lot about them, but we know nothing about you. Why not let us visit you at home. Get to meet your family," The silver-headed jounin looked at her seriously, "How can your teammates trust you, if they know nothing about you?"

The girl opened her mouth and closed it thinking. "I will talk about it with my family. Do not be surprised if they decide not to. We are not very open in letting people into our home. It is…special to us. We're clingy people, and we do not want anyone to find out about our home, for surely someone will try to take it from us."

Kakashi looked at his student seriously, "Give us a chance Rin. Let us know who you really are."

Her gaze turned flat and she watched him carefully, "Despite what you may want to believe, it may be best, for you to _not _know who I am."

Turning away she yawned again, "Well, I'm off back to bed Hatake-sensei. Ja." She disappeared into the house with a small wave.

As she headed up the stairs she kept herself from looking at the few people who were still sitting at the table. As she walked into the room and changed into her sleeping clothes once again. She slid under her comforter on the bed and slipped into a blissful sleep, Mashiro curled up against her chest.

_(Line Break)_

_Next Morning_

"Shouldn't we wake the girl up?" Tazuna asked confusedly.

"Iie, she needs her sleep. So, we'll let her get it. We're prepared anyways, if Zabuza is going to attack, it will have to be today. After all, you're finishing the bridge today aren't you?"

Tazuna nodded his head and the group of Kakashi, Tazuna, Sasuke, and Sakura all headed out the door towards the bridge.

As they walked away, a wise pair of dark amber eyes followed them. They turned to look at the deeply sleeping golden-haired girl. The figure sighed and head over to her, nudging her muzzle against the sleeping girls side it sighed.

When the group of two gennin, civilian, and jounin reached the bridge, they let out a small gasp. The area was covered in a heavy mist, but Kakashi, being a seasoned jounin, could smell the rusty, metallic, scent of blood.

"It's good to see that you finally decided to show up Kakashi." A cold detached voice rang out over the bridge. The mist cleared up slightly to reveal Zabuza with his zanbato on his shoulder as he crouched down. A masked ninja stood at his side, the customary Kiri Hunter-nin mask on his face.

"Would you look at that, one of your little runts are shaking in fear Kakashi."

"I'm shaking in excitement." Sasuke said arrogantly.

"Oh? Is that so, well, we'll see about that." He formed a single hand-seal and allowed five _Mizu Bushin _form up and take off towards Sasuke. When they reached him he sent his foot flying through the air, and straight through each of them, turning them into nothing but puddles of water.

"Oh? Well it looks like your gennin have gotten a bit of skill. Good, means more fun for me." Zabuza grinned sadistically, "Ah…But it seems that you are missing a gennin? Did something happen to the little girl?"

"She will come. Don't you worry Zabuza. But, enough chit-chat. Time to fight." The two jounin took off towards each other, meeting together in a clash of sparks.

Back at Tazuna's house Kinmuku was just beginning to stir. A sudden shout made her shoot up out of bed. Racing downstairs she slid into the room to see two thugs standing in front of Tsunami.

"Are you Tazuna's daughter? You're coming with us."

"Don't you touch my okaa-san!"

The two thugs looked at each other, "Should we take him with us?"

"Iie, we only need one hostage."

One of them began to chuckle darkly, "Then can I kill him?"

"If you touch my child, I will find a way to kill myself!" Tsunami yelled at them, "You need a hostage don't you!?"

"Heh. Thank your mom gak-" He cut off suddenly as he collapsed to the ground, blood welling at his throat.

"Nani? What the hell!?" The other began. Kinmuku appeared in front of him suddenly, her katana at the ready and she slashed his throat without a moments notice.

Turning away from the two bodies she looked at Tsunami and Inari. "Is my team at the bridge with Tazuna-san, I should probably get there soon."

"H-hai."

"Thank you, I'll clean this up before I go." Dragging the two bodies of the samurai outside she used a small Katon to incinerate the body. Rushing away from the burning bodies, she flew through the trees trying to get to the bridge as quickly as possible.

On the bridge Zabuza and Kakashi were going at it in clashes of sparks and at times small jutsu. Only minutes after the two had started their fight, Haku and Sasuke had begun their own fight.

At the moment Sasuke had several senbon puncturing his skin. Kakashi as well sported several cuts on his arms and vest, but Zabuza had several more along his arms, torso, and sides.

The presence of two more entered his senses, and Kakashi cursed. If they were Zabuza's backup, he had no chance.

"_Wind Release: Great Breakthrough,"_ A familiar voice yelled, a furious wind tore through the bridge, clearing the mist ever so slightly. As it cleared two figures appeared from the heavy mist.

Kinmuku stood straight, Akki Naito in her hand. There was a large fox at her side and Kakashi's eyes widened. The fox had four tails.

"Rin! Go help Sasuke!"

Kinmuku nodded her head and motioned for Mashiro to go help Sakura guard Tazuna. With a nod the Kitsune leaped away. When she landed beside Sakura and Tazuna both of them stiffened, expecting her to leap at them. She merely began to circle around the two keeping her eyes on Haku's dome of mirrors and Zabuza and Kakashi's battle.

As the girl rushed towards the dome of mirrors she paced around it angrily, she could see Sasuke inside, quickly becoming a human pincushion.

"Kuso!" She cursed before rushing in. As more senbon launched towards Sasuke she whipped her sword against them deflecting them.

"What the hell are you doing you idiot!? You should have stayed outside!" Kinmuku glared at him and sheathed her sword. "Shut up. Kakashi ordered me to help you."

She looked at the masked figure in the mirrors and shook her head. "Shall we fight then, Haku-kun?"

The figure looked sadly at her and Sasuke looked between the two confusedly. Kinmuku watched as Haku began to run through his mirrors and Kinmuku ran through a string of hand-seals.

As Haku emerged from the mirrors Kinmuku finished her final hand-seal, _"Earth Release: Fist of the Golem"_ A large amount of earth began to gather on the girls hands and as Haku zipped past her she punched out at him, catching his shoulder as he pushed a load of senbon into her side.

She let out a hiss and glared at the masked man. "Forgive me Rin-san. _Water Skill: One Thousand Needles!"_

Sasuke's eyes widened and he felt his body move on its own. There was a pricking over his body and he heard a soft sigh behind him.

"Sasuke, why did you do that?"

"You think I wanted to move? My body moved on its own." As he fell back Kinmuku caught him and looked down sadly at him. "Can you do something for me?" He asked weakly.

She looked down at him, "Kill my brother for me, I swore I would kill him." He felt her tighten her grasp and he met her eyes. They where that strange onyx color again and they had bright scarlet specks in them.

"I can't answer that Sasuke." She looked up when she heard Haku land next to him. Setting the now not-breathing Sasuke she stood up.

"Thank you for knocking him out Haku. But, now we have to fight for real." She stood up shakily and let out a quiet phrase.

"_Fire Skill: Hell Fire."_ A burst of black and red fire escaped the girl shooting all around her sending flames against the mirrors and melting them within moments. As they passed through the end of the mirrors the flames merely disappeared.

Suddenly a loud chirping sounded over the bridge and Kinmuku's head snapped over in the direction of Kakashi and Zabuza. During their fight Kakashi had sustained a large cur across his chest.

Using that blood he had summoned his pack of Ninken, which had attached themselves to Zabuza and were holding him down as Kakashi gathered the electricity in his hand.

"I am sorry Gingitsune-san. But I have to help Zabuza-sama." A mirror appeared beside him and as he stepped into it Kinmuku raced out towards Kakashi.

"_Chidori!"_

As Kakashi's hand sank into the flesh his eyes widened as he took in the face of the masked boy. Zabuza was grinning maniacally, "Why thank you Haku."

"O-of c-course Zabuza-s-sama." He shuddered out coughing up blood.

"Damn it! Haku!" Kinmuku yelled. Rushing past Kakashi she threw a punch at Zabuza. "You asshole! Is that all you can say to him!? He gave up his life for you! His future, his past, his dreams! And that's all you can fucking say!?"

Tears poured from her eyes as she looked at Haku's face. "Damn it Haku, why would you give your life for an asshole like that?"

Zabuza looked at the girl confusedly, but a voice interrupted anything he was going to say. "Well, well. The mighty Demon of The Bloody Mist, defeated by a couple of brats. How sad."

Zabuza turned around taking in the sight of a very short many in a suit. His left arm was in a cast and he held a cane in the other arm. Several people stood behind him, all armed with swords. He heard a feral growl come from behind him and looked back to see the sun-kissed gennin with her head down.

"You're the asshole who ruined this country? Gatoh? Of Gatoh corporation?" Her voice was low and snarling as she questioned him.

"Heh? So you know about me huh?" He sneered at her and looked at the other ninja. Walking forward he came up to Haku's corpse and placed his cane on his now un-masked face. Kicking the body he grinned, "That's for breaking my arm you little shit wad."

Kinmuku lifted her head and her eyes where that angry black onyx, only now, instead of the scarlet specks, there was bright glowing silver.

"Are you going to let him do that Zabuza? Well!? If you are, I'll kill you, and everyone of those bastards out there!"

Zabuza looked at the girl confusedly, "Why do you care about him so much little girl?"

"I met him out there in the forest one day when he was gathering herbs to heal you. He told me something that I have taken to heart. In those few moments that I spoke to him…he became a great friend. I won't let him be insulted like that without punishment."

Zabuza grinned. "Alright then girly. Kakashi, do you have a spare kunai?" Kakashi removed one of his kunai and tossed it to Zabuza who caught it in his teeth.

He rushed forward into the crowd slicing through the crowd as he ran towards Gatoh. Several of the thugs managed to stab him with their own weapons, so that by the time Zabuza reached Gatoh he had been stuck with several weapons.

"P-Please, spare me. I can pay you." Gatoh begged.

"Hm...No." Slashing through Gatoh's throat the rest of the crowd of thugs erupted into anger.

"He killed our meal ticket!"

"Let's kill him!"

The group of thugs moved forward to kill the man who had killed their leader when an angry roar broke over the bridge. Mashiro was standing just on the edge of the crowd, her fur bristling and her tails lashing around angrily.

"Let's take them, Mashiro!" Kinmuku and Mashiro rushed forward at the group of stunned samurai and took off. There was snarls from Mashiro that reached over the bridge and grunts of satisfaction from Kinmuku.

Kakashi, Tazuna, and Sakura all watched with terrified rapture as the two ripped through the crowd of samurai. When the rain of blood ended Kinmuku and Mashiro stepped back from the crowd of corpses and slowly walked back to Zabuza.

"Wonderful work little girl."

"Spoken like a true devil Zabuza."

"Heh, yeah. Gotta get in all the practice I can for going down to hell. I just have one favor to ask you kid. Can you take me over to Haku? I just want to see him one more time before I die."

"Of course Zabuza." The girl and fox lifted the man to the best of their abilities and carried him over to lay him next to the body of the young boy. "I'm sorry Haku. I just wish I could go to the same place as you are."

As he spoke a small drift of snow began to fall over the bridge, "What is this? Snow? I suppose it is only fitting, pure, just like yourself Haku."

"Zabuza, I don't think you'll be leaving Haku. You'll follow him up." Zabuza let out a slight chuckle, and shook his head.

Taking a shuddering breath his body stilled and Kinmuku smiled slightly. She stood up very slowly and walked back over to her team. Sakura backed up seeing her teammate covered in blood.

"Where is Sasuke?" Kakashi asked softly.

She looked over to where the Ice Dome rested previously and Sakura let out a slight gasp. She rushed over to the area leaving Tazuna behind with the other two shinobi. As she came up to him she let out a slight meep.

The boy was covered in senbon, looking very much like a pincushion. "S-Sasuke-kun." She stuttered fearfully.

"Sasuke-kun!" She leaped down onto the boy weeping uncontrollably. "Rin! Why did you let him die!?"

"He's not dead, only in a near death state." She said stepping up beside the girl. As she spoke Sasuke let out a shudder and coughed slightly taking in a deep breath.

"Sakura?"

She let out a gasp, "Sasuke-kun!" Her weeping resumed and he growled, "Sakura, you're heavy."

"Gomen Sasuke-kun!" She leaped off the boy and he shakily sat up.

His other female teammate had turned away and was looking out over the bridge. "Haku-kun. Zabuza-san. You two did not deserve to die just yet." She murmured quietly. It just barely reached Sasuke's ears and he looked at her in confusion.

Kakashi walked over to his gennin and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay Rin?"

The girl nodded her head "I'll be fine Hatake-sensei."

"Alright, we'll head out soon, we will bury Haku and Zabuza tomorrow, and we'll let Tazuna finish the bridge in two days. Then we'll head out."

Kinmuku nodded her head and shivered slightly, she let her hand rest on Mashiro's head and knelt down beside her, "Mashiro, when we get back to Tazuna-san's house, I'd like for you to go and wash yourself off. Is that okay?"

Mashiro nodded her head and Kinmuku smiled. "Alright."

She stood back up and turned back to look at Kakashi, "Do you want Mashiro to carry Sasuke, or will you do that?"

"I'll carry him."

"Okay, Mashiro can you get Zabuza? I'll get Haku-kun." The two walked over and Kinmuku lifted Zabuza onto Mashiro's back and lifted Haku up and shivered. "I'll make sure you get a proper burial Haku-kun."

As they walked back over Sasuke took note that Sakura stepped back fearfully from Kinmuku. When he looked closely at her, what he had thought was a red shirt she had worn, was actually a black shirt covered in blood.

His eyes widened and he looked around her to the end of the bridge. He almost lost his lunch as he took in what happened to them.

They where mutilated beyond all possible recognition. Shuddering deeply he saw Kinmuku look at him and watched her smile.

"You can try to avoid me too if you want. It doesn't hurt, not even with Sakura already doing it, I never was close friends with you guys anyways." She shrugged and turned to Mashiro.

"Come on, let's get Tazuna-san on home." She walked over to the old man and as they where about to leave they noticed at the end of the bridge, there was a large group of people.

Kinmuku smiled and put her arm up in the air waving keeping hold of Haku with her other arm.

"Inari! We already won! You guys are late!" She grinned widely at him and they continued to walk towards the group of people at the end of the bridge. When the team reached them Inari ran up to the small gold-haired girl.

"Rin, Arigatou for saving okaa-san. I had to help you when you left, so I gathered up the villagers to stop Gatoh."

The girl smiled softly at him and sighed, "That was very brave of you Inari-chan. I'm proud of you. Now, come on and let's get home. Mashiro and I need to clean up." Inari nodded after taking in her appearance and the group of Inari, Tazuna, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kinmuku set back off to Tazuna's house.

Once there Kinmuku tenderly set Haku and Zabuza down underneath a large oak tree near the house. She straightened up and Mashiro took off into the forest to clean herself up and Kinmuku headed inside.

She padded upstairs and grabbed a pair of black shorts and a white beater. She walked into the bathroom, locked the door, and stripped herself of her clothes. Stepping into the shower she grabbed her shampoo and quickly began to clean herself of the blood.

After removing all the blood from her skin she turned off the shower and stepped out. Putting her clothes back on she stepped out of the bathroom and headed downstairs. Stepping into the living room she noticed that the rest of Team Seven, Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami were sitting around. She nodded to them and headed out of the house onto the porch out front.

Walking over to the two bodies of Haku and Zabuza she knelt down in front of them and sighed. As Mashiro padded up behind her she turned and smiled, "You want to give them their burial early?" The fox nodded her head and Kinmuku smiled. Laying Zabuza down on Mashiro's back again, Kinmuku lifted Haku and they headed through the forest to a wide open clearing with small hills surrounding it.

"Here looks like a good place don't you think Mashiro?" The fox nodded her head and the two walked down the hill and placed their two bodies on the ground carefully.

"_Earth Release: Entombment of the Holy"_ Piles of earth pulled out of the ground as the technique worked its magic. Soon enough two holes, six feet deep, where made. Kinmuku smiled slightly and placed Zabuza and Haku in their two respective graves.

She pushed the piles of earth back into their holes and watched the two bodies disappear. Standing up she dusted her hands and walked over to where there was two crosses to mark the two graves. Placing them in their respective graves she pulled out the sole kunai she had brought and engraved into the wood of the left cross, _'Here lies Haku'._

In the one next to it she engraved carefully in looping letters, _'Here lies Demon of the Bloody Mist, Momochi Zabuza, Father figure, former Seven Swordsman.'_

She smiled and stroked the two crosses. She would have to go back to the bridge and retrieve Zabuza's sword for him. Shaking her head slightly she sighed and stroked Mashiro's head.

"Why did you bury them? Weren't they our enemies?" Kinmuku turned her head to look at Sasuke and she cocked her head to the side.

"Even enemies deserve to be buried. Besides, I met Haku yesterday morning, and he told me something that I will remember for the rest of my life. In the short moment that I spoke to him, he became a very close friend to me." She shook her head and stood up very slowly.

"How did you kill all those men on the bridge? And what happened to your fox?"

"I have been trained to fight since I was young Sasuke. That was how I did it. For your second question, Mashiro has always been like this, but we chose to hide what she truly looked like. That's all."

She turned to look at him and noticed that his eyes had the Sharingan spinning angrily in them.

"Why do you keep hiding things from us?"

"Why do you have your Sharingan activated on me?"

Sasuke looked at her in confusion for a moment before she tapped her eyes.

"I have the Sharingan?" Inwardly Sasuke was leaping with joy, "I still want you to answer my question."

"Deactivate your Sharingan and I just might tell you." Slowly and with stubborn anger he let the Sharingan fade from his eyes and nearly activated it again when the girl and fox had begun to walk away. "Are you coming or not?"

Sasuke glared at her and quickly set off after the girl, he looked her over for a quick moment and took notice of her appearance. Since she had left in her shorts and beater he could actually see quite a bit.

Her legs where not exactly long, but they where slim and had the same pale, creamy colored skin as her arms and face. Her feet, which were bare, where small, and her toe-nails were painted a deep crimson red. The black shorts hugged her waist and the white beater hugged her skin. Her arms were long and her hands were large.

Long fingers with sharp long nails were painted the same deep red as her toes. Sasuke could see the two necklaces hanging around her neck but could not make out the inscription on her key.

Suddenly she stopped and turned to look at him.

"You wanted me to explain why I hide things from you; it is because of who I am. If people knew who and what I was, they would not like who I claim to be. That is why I hide things about me." Her eyes met his in a cold gaze and she turned away continuing on towards the house.

Mashiro and Kinmuku quickly reached the house and could hear Sasuke on his way, instead of heading through the house Kinmuku snuck up the side of the house and slipped into her room. Sliding into her bed she pulled the covers up over her and slipped into sleep.


	9. Dinner with the Byakuya family?

"Normal speak"

'_Thoughts'_

"**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning Speaking"**

'_**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning thinking'**_

"_Jutsu/ Emphasis"_

"_Kanpuu Speaking"_

'_Kanpuu Thinking'_

**Warning: **Female Naruto, Good Danzo, Evil Sarutobi, Semi-dark/Good Itachi, Crazy Naruto, Semi-evil Kyuubi, One-sided pairings, and...VULGAR LANGUAGE!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

_Her Story_

_Chapter 9_

_Dinner with the 'Byakuya' family?_

_Previously_

Today was the day that they were leaving. They were standing on the end of the bridge, all of the villagers standing in front of them.

"Good-bye Tazuna-san. It was fun." Kakashi said holding his hand out towards the older man. They shook hands and grinning Kinmuku waved. "I hope next time I come here, you guys are back on your feet. I want to see this place looking beautiful again." Inari smiled at her, "Come back soon then!"

Kinmuku nodded grinning widely and the team headed out. Reaching over the bridge Kinmuku turned around to look back over the bridge and smiled.

As the group walked, they made great time. Making it back home to Konoha by nightfall.

_Present_

"Ah! It feels so good to be back in Konoha!" Kinmuku exclaimed stretching and taking in a deep breath of the oak in the air.

"Alright, since this was our first C-rank, and it ended up turning A-rank, we'll be reporting to the Hokage and verbally giving our report."

The team of gennin nodded their heads and they headed into town. Reaching the tower they requested an audience with the Hokage as quickly as possible and were sent right in.

"Hokage-sama, Squadron Seven, returning from C-rank mission escort Tazuna to wave success. We are here to give the verbal report on the mission. I will turn in the written report later."

The Hokage nodded his aged head. "Go on."

"Hai, we left the Eastern Gate at o' 800 hours two weeks past. We were on the road for about four hours when we encountered the Hakushuku no Oni. My team took them on and they where quickly disposed of. Tazuna-san was questioned over why he lied about the details of the mission and it was quickly decided by the team that despite the lie, we would continue on.

"We took a small boat to Nami no Kuni and it was there while on a worn dirt path that we met in battle against Aka Oni no Kiri, Momochi Zabuza. The battle was short and we had him cornered when a hunter-nin from Kiri disposed of Zabuza. After that I passed out from chakra overuse and was quickly taken to Tazuna-san's house.

"After I awoke I pondered about the Hunter-nin who took Zabuza's body away. I came to the conclusion that Zabuza was still alive, and therefore decided to prepare my team for it. We began training and Rin quickly completed the exercise so I had her guard Tazuna-san.

"On the day the bridge was to be finished, Zabuza struck, Rin was left home to rest after a long night of training. We engaged Zabuza and his partner, the supposed hunter-nin, in battle. We held our own and when Rin arrived she immediately went to assist Sasuke in his battle with the hunter-nin."

He took a breath and continued on, "The two were quickly disposed of, and when Gatoh arrived on the scene, the one who was causing problems for wave, he and his small thug army was quickly…_removed_." He shuddered as he remembered his gennin's ferocious nature. "Tazuna-san completed the bridge two days later and we left the day after."

The Hokage nodded his head and looked at the girl who's head was bowed. "Is there something wrong Rin-san?"

"Iie Hokage-sama, I just feel a little un-settled about something that happened on the mission, it is nothing for you to worry about Hokage-sama."

The old man narrowed his eyes before nodding curtly to the team, "You are dismissed."

The team of gennin nodded their heads and quickly turned to leave. Exiting the Hokage mansion, Kakashi turned to his team. "Alright, Sasuke, Sakura. I discussed with Rin about you guys getting to know her better. Since none of us really know much about each other, I have asked Rin to ask her family about us having dinner with them. Seeing as no one really knows much about Rin herself, we'll start with her. She'll be letting you guys know tomorrow about the dinner."

The other two gennin turned to look at their fellow gennin and saw that she had turned around and was looking up at the Hokage monument. "I'll talk to the rest of them tonight. Don't be surprised if either, one, it doesn't happen at all, or two, it doesn't happen at my home. Till tomorrow Hatake-sensei."

The girl quickly stepped away, leaving the rest of her team behind her, and quickly headed home. Mashiro had gone home earlier, so surely her family knew she was home. Stepping lightly through the forest she gripped the key around her neck tightly and shivered slightly.

Coming up on her home she stepped past the short wall into the flower garden she stopped on the path and took a deep breath. Pushing on she stepped up to the house she stepped inside and called out loudly.

"Tadaima!"

"Ah! Kin-chan, welcome home." Danzo's voice came from around the corner and after a few seconds the older man came walking around the corner.

"Jiji! It is good to see you again, how are Tsunade-oba-san, Jiraya-otoji, and Itachi-kun doing?"

"We're fine gaki. It's good to see you back again in one piece." Jiraya's rough voice came from the back door and Kinmuku snapped her head to look at the white-haired hermit.

Foot-steps from the stairs made Kinmuku mover her head once more to look at the stairs, Tsunade and Itachi had come downstairs and Tsunade was grinning at her. "Good to have you home Kinmuku."

She nodded her head and Tsunade motioned her over, slugging her arm over the girl's shoulders and bent her head down to whisper in her ear, "We're gonna go out to eat tonight, I want to talk to you before we go. Shall we go up to your room?"

Kinmuku nodded her head. "Be right back Otoji, Jiji." She nodded to Itachi and the two females headed up the stairs and into Kinmuku's bedroom.

The two sat down on her bed and Kinmuku cocked her head looking at Tsunade. "What did you want to talk about Oba-san?"

"This was your first C-rank no?"

"Hai, and it turned A-rank early on because we were attacked by some Kiri nuke-nin."

"Ah, well then. I'm going to assume that you encountered death on this mission? Killed." Kinmuku lowered her head and nodded sadly. "Hai Oba-san. I met someone on that mission, and he was a really good friend. His master was Momochi Zabuza and when he sacrificed himself to save his life, Zabuza didn't care at all. He all but insulted him in his death, and I just went crazy. Haku-kun taught me something on that mission, and it hurts that Zabuza did what he did."

Tsunade looked at her niece sadly. "What is it that he taught you?"

"He taught me that you become truly strong when you protect your precious people, but he died protecting Zabuza, that can't be right. Wouldn't he have stopped Kakashi _Chidori_ when he decided to protect Zabuza?"

Tsunade shook her head, "He chose his way of dying, and there is only so much power one can gain."

"Oba-san, there's a few more things. A-after Haku died, Zabuza took care of his employer, Gatoh, and his thugs he had brought decided to raid the town. I-I lost it then, I killed them, and I think that I used my Kekkei Genkai to kill them." Rubbing her arm over her eyes she shivered and looked at Tsunade.

"Also, Hatake-sensei wanted me to ask you if my team could have dinner with the family. He says that 'we need to get to know each other', so he decided since they know the least about me, that he'd try to get to know my family as well."

She shook her head and smiled slightly. "Alright then, we'll have dinner tomorrow, here of course. And we shall all be in our lovely little Genjutsu's ne?"

Kinmuku smiled and nodded her head. "Alright, now, where is it that we're going to eat tonight?"

"Well, how about Manubi's? I hear that they have some great sushi." A quick nod from Kinmuku made Tsunade smile, "Alright, get dressed, semi-fancy if you can?" She received a grin at her statement and a shrug, "I suppose I could try."

Tsunade merely shook her head smiling and stood up heading out of the room. "Alright then gaki. I'll tell them to get ready."

"Arigatou, Oba-san." Was all she heard before she let the door click shut and headed downstairs. "Alright, you guys go get ready for dinner. She's getting herself ready."

The three men nodded their heads and went to their respective rooms. Tsunade followed as well to get herself ready.

About fifteen minutes later everyone had come downstairs and were just getting ready to leave the house.

Kinmuku was wearing a pair of formal black slack, a set of black high-heeled shoes, and a loose long-sleeved black shirt with a fishnet shirt underneath it that showed through the v-neck collar of it.

Danzo, who had Genjutsued himself, was now a long black-haired middle-aged man, with two bright blue orbs, and both arms and legs. He was dressed in an outfit much-like that of Kinmuku's. Only his shirt did not have the v-neck that hers did, and buttoned up.

Jiraya, also Genjutsued, still had silver hair, but it was short and fell just above his shoulders. He no longer had the red tattoos on his face, and he had the same colored eyes as Kinmuku. He too was wearing black slacks, but he had on a deep red, long-sleeved shirt that buttoned up.

Tsunade, using the Genjutsu she had used all those years ago (go to chapter 3 to get the description), was wearing a black skirt with a red shirt over that that hugged her form. A white jacket rested over that and on the back in black kanji was, 'Will of Fire'.

Itachi, also using his same genjutsu, was dressed in pinstripe black pants, a button up white long-sleeved shirt, with a black jacket over that.

The group of five quickly headed out of their house and towards the city. Traveling through it they could tell that they caught the eyes of a few people. Decidedly ignoring it they headed towards a large building with the words "Manubi's" painted on the front.

Heading inside Jiraya walked up to the Maitre De and asked about the reservation that they had. They were quickly seated and Kinmuku began to sink into her chair when she noticed at a table not to far from theirs, was a familiar head of pink hair.

Itachi who was sitting next to her cocked his head to the side. "What is it Kinmuku?" The girl shook her head and sent a pointed look towards her teammate's table. Luckily Sakura was turned away from their table.

Risking a glance towards where she was staring he noticed the pink head that he knew was her teammate, having heard her rant about the uselessness of the Kunnochi. Turning away he didn't notice that Sakura's parents had pointed out the man staring at her and missed Sakura glance towards him.

Their food the had ordered quickly arrived and the family of five joked as they ate, only pausing when the waitress came to speak to them. Finally finishing up their food they paid and left towards home.

_Next Day_

_8' o clock_

_Team 7 bridge meeting place_

"I saw you and your family at Manubi's yesterday Rin."

"I saw you too Sakura."

Sasuke, who was standing broodingly beneath a tree, picked up on the conversation, listening closely. No too many people knew about the mysterious golden-haired girl, it was always an opportunity to learn more about her, even if it was a little bit.

"Who was that guy you were sitting next to?"

Suddenly his teammate went rigid, "Why do you want to know?"

"My okaa-san and otou-san said he was staring at me. So, who was that guy?"

"Ita-kun was probably staring at you because I've told him about my teammates. So, he probably wanted to know if I was exaggerating or not about you."

"Oh? What did you tell him about me?"

"Everything I have ever called you, is what I've told him." She smirked at her and added darkly, "Also, that you have a crush on the biggest ego-maniac in the world, and have hair so pink it almost looks like bubblegum."

Sakura's mouth opened and she was ready to reply when Kakashi appeared in front of the team. "Good, I got here just before a giant brawl. Wouldn't want that now would we?"

"No sensei," Sakura mumbled darkly and glaring at Kinmuku.

"Alright then, now, onto business, I have a meeting to attend to. So, training is cancelled for today, but I wanted to know what Rin's family said."

"You can come, but I'll be leading the way. And Hatake-sensei, you can't freak out about where we live okay? It might make you a little bit angry that we're living there, but you can't do anything about it okay?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye and looked at her carefully. "I can make no promises Rin." The girl let out a resigned sigh, "Fine, just don't ask me any questions about why I am living there, okay?"

Kakashi nodded stiffly. "Alright, what time do we come? And we'll need directions so we can get there."

"I'll take you there, just be in front of the Academy by 5:30 sharp Hatake-sensei, Oba-san will probably murder you if you decide to show up late." Kakashi nodded again and Kinmuku sighed.

"Alright then, if you don't mind me, I'm gonna go ahead and head out. See you tonight Hatake-sensei."

She headed off the bridge followed by her two teammates and Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, headed towards a meeting with the Hokage.

The three gennin were headed towards town and Sakura was interrogating her Kunnochi teammate. "What is your house like? Is it big? It has to big with the size of your family. How much land is it on?"

"Sakura. Shut up, you'll see when you get there." Kinmuku snapped at her. Sakura retreated back from her teammate slightly and glared at her. She opened her mouth to snap back a retort when they heard a yell of fear.

They took off around the corner and saw a boy holding up a much younger boy up in the air by his jokingly long scarf. "Ah! Honored Grandson! Hey, you! What on earth do you think you're doing to the Hokage's grandson?" Sakura yelled.

The boy, dressed in an odd cat suit glared at the pink-haired girl. "What are you talking about Pinky?" He sneered, "This punk ran into me. I'm just teaching him a lesson."

"Kankuro, you better put him down. _He_ won't be happy knowing that you are causing trouble." Said the blond girl behind him. She had a hand resting on the giant fan on her back and was looking around nervously.

"Relax, _he's _not anywhere near, besides. I'll be done before he get's here." He looked back to the brat in his hands only to look into the furious eyes of the blonde girl. "This is what you get, you should learn to listen to your elders."

Kankuro immediately dropped her. "What the hell!?" He yelled, "Where did that brat go?" He twisted around looking for him, only to find him shielded by the other two gennin. "Tell your friend up in the tree it's not nice to hide from others."

In a swirl of sand a red-headed figure appeared, hanging upside down from the tree. "Temari, Kankuro, you are both disgraces to our village. I should kill you right now."

Sand began to appear around Kankuro and Kinmuku stepped forward. "Hey, hey now. No reason to kill him. He just needs a stern beating."

The red-head turned his head and sent a piercing stare at the girl, "Be silent, or I will silence you."

"You think you can? I'm not afraid of you." She snapped back. "You may want to leave, I'm sure that the brat's tutor will have sent out the ANBU to look for him. If you don't want to be forcefully removed from Konoha, I suggest you leave."

"Girl, what is your name?"

"It is only common courtesy to give your own name before asking another's."

"Sabuku no Gaara."

"Byakuya Rin." She replied curtly before turning away. "I will see you two outside of the academy tonight." Disappearing around the corner Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara quickly retreated from the other two gennin.

The two gennin and academy student looked at each other in slight puzzlement before they headed off their separate ways.

_Later that Evening_

_Outside the Academy_

"Kakashi-sensei! You actually came on time!" Sakura yelled looking amazingly at her teacher. Sasuke who was right next to Sakura winced at her loud yell.

"Sakura."

"Yes Sasuke-kun?"

"Quietness is a virtue."

Sakura blushed sheepishly and bowed her head. Kakashi merely shook his head. The group of three was actually dressed in what they usually wore, not knowing what they should have worn.

"Ah, good. None of you dressed up. Come on then, my family doesn't much like waiting." Kinmuku's voice shocked them out of a slight stupor and she shook her head. "Come on."

"Ah, hold on Rin. I have something to tell you guys first."

"Okay, what is it?"

"You three have been nominated for the chuunin exams."

"Really? You think that we're ready for it?" Kinmuku asked incredulously.

"Yeah, you have two days to decide whether or not you will participate. If you decide to, be in room 301 of the academy by 10:30 in two days."

With a nod from the team, Kinmuku led them off towards the forest and onto a well worn path. There was a light chatter amongst the four of them, until they came up upon the house. Sasuke and Sakura were slightly awed at the beauty of the house and the large flower garden in front of the house.

"Rin, this house, i-it's… why are you living in here?" Kakashi's voice was stunned as he looked at the house and the girl tittered at her sensei.

"Now, now Hatake-sensei. You said you promised you wouldn't ask any questions about that. Don't break that promise." She wagged her finger at him smiling slightly. Turning away she led them on, through the fields of flowers and up to the house.

"Tadaima! Oba-chan, Otoji!" The team heard a slight clatter in the kitchen and a dark gray head poked its head out. "Ah, Rin-chan. I take it this is your team then?" The woman's warm golden brown eyes smiled at her niece and reflected brightly onto the other three.

"Hai Oba-chan. Where are Otoji and Jiji?"

"Out back chatting like the two old men they are. Your little, 'Ita-kun' is out with them listening in. Figures he'll get something out of them."

"Arigatou Oba-chan. Sasuke, Sakura, Hatake-sensei. Want to go outside to meet the other three?"

Kakashi looked at his other two subordinates before nodding. The girl led them outside and they noticed the two old men chatting in chairs, while a young man layed back in the hammock. (Look at the dinner scene for their descriptions, I'm too lazy to write them again.)

"Well, Dan, look who's finally decided to grace us with her presence once more, welcome home Rin-chan."

"Too true, Gama-kun, too true. So, Rin-chan, would you care to introduce us to your team?"

The young kunnochi nodded her head and introduced her team motioning to them with her hands, "Uchiha Sasuke," She gestured to him slightly, "Haruno Sakura," Again she gestured with her hand, "And of course, our team-leader, Hatake Kakashi." The Jounin stepped forward and shook hands with the two men and went over to shake the lying teens hand only to be ignored.

"Don't mind Ita-kun, he doesn't much like other people." She glared pointedly at the boy and smacked his head. The boy sat up slowly and swung his legs over the side before glaring at the girl. "I really wish you wouldn't do that."

The girl merely smiled and shook her head. Looking at her team she smiled slightly, "Would you rather stay out here and listen to these old men or go in and help oba-san?"

Kakashi and Sasuke decided to stay with the three men and Sakura nearly remained as well until Jiraya began his leap into a bloody battle story. Sakura wisely chose to leave before puking her guts up.

Following Rin inside, Sakura noted the warm atmosphere which she and her aunt conversed, laughing lightly, and teasing each other. Tsunade stood at the stove swirling something around inside of a rather large pot, Rin was at the counter chopping vegetables and tossing some into the pot and putting others off to the side.

"What can I help with?" She asked looking around. Tsunade looked up before looking around. "Could you set the table? The dishes are out there as is the flatware." Sakura nodded and exited the kitchen walking out to the rather long table.

Laughter rang out from the kitchen and she turned her head to see Rin fleeing the kitchen with Tsunade, partially covered in rice running after her. "Brat!" She yelled, laughter was clear in her voice and Sakura let out a wistful sigh. Finished with setting the table she followed after them, outside where she saw Rin being held by the younger man and Tsunade quickly coming up on her.

"Ita-kun you traitor!" She yelled laughing as Tsunade tickled her in the sides. The younger boy was merely smirking and the other four males watched amusedly.

Finally Tsunade stopped her attack and the girl pouted, "That was cruel Oba-san." She said sticking her tongue out at the older woman the tongue stud glittering. Tsunade merely shrugged before pulling her along back into the kitchen. 'Gama' and 'Dan' merely sat laughing as the girl was pulled back into the kitchen.

Eventually dinner was ready, and the three women called the five others into the house. Trays of food sat on the table and the three women grinned as the males took in the sight of the food. There was a plate of onigri, a large bowl of steaming udon noodles, a hot pot of miso, and a few steaks.

Dinner was a lively affair and as the women cleared away the plates Rin re-emerged with a chocolate cake dusted with sugar powder and smaller plates for the cake. She set it down grinning as she took in the excited looks on her families faces.

The cake was quickly devoured by the eight humans and the sighed contently. They quickly exited the house and sat down out back. Kakashi decided that if he was going to get any answers about why his student was living in this house, he would have to get them now.

"Rin, I need to know why you are living in the Uzumaki household. I _need _to know." He stressed on the word need, letting her know how badly he wanted to know. Rin shook her head, "I can't tell you sensei. I _can't_."She looked at her uncle and grandfather, "Jiji? Otoji? Would you like to explain it to him?"

Danzo nodded and shushed Jiraya who opened his mouth to reply. "We live here, because Uzumaki-san allowed us in here."

"But she's dead!" He said angrily.

"She let us know that we could stay before she died!"

"She would have told me! She would have told sensei! She didn't! Explain that!"

Danzo glared darkly at Kakashi, "Are you doubting my word? My family does not lie, we were very close to Uzumaki-san back when she was alive, and we asked her not to tell anyone about us because we did not want Konoha to know about us."

Kakashi glared back at Danzo, "Byakuya-san, I don't care what you say, she would have told sensei at the very least, and when Kyuubi was attacking I'm sure he would have told us to keep watch over this house."

"Are you doubting her word!?"

"Iie! But she would not keep something like that from sensei no matter what you say!"

Jiraya stood to his feet and stalked darkly over to Kakashi. Gripping his front in his hands he let harsh words flow from his mouth, "You need to figure out Kakashi, that Uzumaki-san would not break her word. Has she never told you that she never breaks her word?" His eyes smoldered in his anger and he continued, "If you truly believe she would lie to us and break that promise, leave. Don't come back. Take your other two students and never return to this home."

Kakashi opened his mouth to reply and Jiraya threw him away from him. The large man turned and stalked inside slamming the door. Sasuke and Sakura watched him leave warily and Kinmuku, who had seated herself next to Itachi on the hammock, held her head in her hands and groaned.

"Hatake-sensei, don't bother. There is no point in trying to talk to him now. Why don't you guys go home, it's time for me to work with Otoji and he won't come out while you guys are here."

Kakashi looked at her and sighed, "Alright, Sasuke, Sakura, let's get back to Konoha." Sasuke looked like he wanted to protest but a stern glare from Kakashi stopped any protest. Sakura said goodbye to the family and quickly stepped outside. Kinmuku led them out to the front wall and sighed.

"Sensei, please take what Otoji said to mind." She pulled a flower out from the ground near the wall and handed it to Kakashi, "Could you take that to Uzumaki-san's grave for me? Say hello and let her know that her garden is being well taken care of."

The jounin nodded his head and scrutinized the flower slightly. It was a white baby's breath. Sakura, seeing the flower, looked at her curiously. "Why would you want him to give her that flower?"

The one-eyed jounin looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean Sakura?"

"A baby's breath in the flower language means 'Everlasting love'. Surely Rin has never met her, so why would she give her that kind of flower?"

Kakashi turned and eyed the young gennin and she smiled slightly. "I met her once, I was really young when I met her, not even a year old, but I could always remember her. She was really kind, it was…saddening…when I found out she was dead."

Her eyes slipped shut and she took a deep breath, "Anyways, I would appreciate it if you gave that to her."

The silver-haired man nodded his head and she smiled, "Arigatou sensei." Kakashi smiled his eyes smile and said softly, "Is it possible that you could find me a flower to take to her as well?"

Her eyes widened slightly but she nodded, "Of course sensei, what do you want it to say?"

Sakura felt her eyes widen slightly as Kakashi whispered very quietly, "I'll never forget you. I'm sorry." Kinmuku nodded her head and backed up slightly walking amongst the field of flowers. She returned with two small flowers. A purple hyacinth and a pink carnation, "The purple flower means 'I'm sorry, forgive me, or sorrow'. The pink one means 'I'll never forget you'."

Kakashi nodded. "Arigatou Rin -chan." Said gennin merely nodded her head and waved him off. "Oyasumi Hatake-sensei, Sakura, Sasuke." She nodded at each before turning back and disappearing up into the house.

As Kinmuku stepped into the house she nodded to the others inside and they instantly dispelled their genjutsu. "Never thought that they'd leave, so you ready to start your training now Kin-chan?"

The girl grinned widely, "Always Tsunade-oba-san." Jiraya came stepping down the stairs and shook his head, "Alright then gaki. Now, I'll assume that the Chuunin exams are coming up correct?"

"Hai, Hatake-sensei actually entered us in this one."

"Good, so I suppose we'll have to start with out training won't we?" A sadistic smile found a home on his face and Kinmuku gulped, "Otoji…This is going to be hell isn't it?" A wide feral smile was her only reply as the two headed outside to begin their tort…err…training.

_Two Days later_

_Academy building_

_9.30 A.M_

In the two days that had occurred since the dinner at the Byakuya home team meetings had been canceled so that the team could rest up for the exams. Outside of the academy two gennin stood silently waiting for their missing third member to show up.

"Sasuke-kun, where do you think she could be?" The said Uchiha turned to glare at the pink-haired Kunnochi.

"Sorry I'm late." Came the tired voice of Kinmuku. She let out a wide yawn and stretched, "Shall we go in now?"

Sasuke glared at her, "Shouldn't have been late dobe." A glare was pointed in his direction and Kinmuku snapped at him, "Well I'm sorry. I've been training my ass off for this. So it's not my fault that I'm a little tired!"

She whipped away from him and disappeared into the academy leaving two stunned teammates. Finally catching up with their angered teammate they came upon a commotion in the hall in front of room '301'.

"Please! You have to let us through!" The voice came from a boy who had been shoved on the floor by two gennin in front of room '301'. "Ha! You think you can take the chuunin exam like that!? You should quit now!" The gennin with a mask covering his chin said. The other one, bandages on his cheeks and chin smirked, "Yeah, your just kids."

The first one spoke up again, "Yeah. Just give up."

A girl, dressed in a pink Chinese-styled shirt with her chocolate brown hair pulled up in two buns looked desperately at them, "Please…just let us through!" The one who had spoken second punched the girl in the face sending her falling back to her teammate.

The Uchiha shook his head, "Pathetic." The girl turned and glared at him opening her mouth to yell at him when the one who punched her glared at the Uchiha, "What did you say?"

The first one opened his mouth as well, "This is our kindness. The chuunin exam is ruthless, the two of us have failed this test three times straight! People die, many that survive quit being shinobi all-together."

The second continued, "Most chuunin become squad leaders of their teams. The failure of their mission, the life and deaths of their teammates, the injuries that their team takes. It is all the responsibility of the squadron's leader. And you kids think that you can do this!? We're just thinning out the competition, if you can't get past us, there is no way that you'll pass the test!"

Sasuke shook his head, "You'll let us pass through, and you'll remove the genjutsu you have on this room. I'm going to the third floor."

Mutterings started around him, "What is he talking about?"

"I don't know."

The two gennin smirked, "So, you saw through it huh?" Sasuke smirked and Kinmuku smacked her forehead with her hand, muttering darkly to herself.

"Well, that won't help you any!" The first one shouted leaping into the air and launching a kick towards him, Sasuke followed suit and a green blur appeared between them catching the two's kicks.

"Please stop! You should not fight, it is most un-youthful!" The blur, which had now taken form yelled. As he looked up Kinmuku had to hide a slight cringe. Shiny black hair that was cut in a bowl cut surrounded the boy's head, large round eyes were slightly covered by large thick eyebrows. A shudder ran through Kinmuku, the things looked alive for Kami-sama's sake!

"Hey. Lee, wasn't it your idea to keep our strength hidden?" The boy with white pearly eyes and long brown hair said. Lee smiled blushing, he turned away from his team and turned to Sakura.

"My name is Rock Lee! Are you the beautiful blossom Sakura that I've heard so much about?" Sakura nodded carefully, Lee grinned brightly, "Will you go out with me? I will protect you with my life!"

Sakura shuddered, "No way! You look like a freak, way too lame! Besides, I love Sasuke-kun!" Kinmuku glared at Sakura and turned to see the hurt look on Lee's face. The gold-haired gennin walked over to the spandex clad gennin and tapped him on the shoulder, he looked up at her and she smiled brightly.

Motioning him to follow her she quickly stepped away from the crowd with a puzzled Lee following her. "Lee-san, don't let her get to you. She can be really shallow, it would be best if you chose someone who can appreciate your affection. It's probably best that you don't chose from the girls in our year, most are horrible Sasuke fan-girls."

Lee looked at her, "If I keep trying though, she's bound to fall in love with me!" Kinmuku shook her head, "Okay then, keep trying. Don't give up Lee-san." The boy nodded and they turned around just in time to here the white eyed boy ask cockily, "What is your name?"

The question was directed at Sasuke who merely smirked. "It's only common curtsey to give your name before asking another's." Kinmuku rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Oi! Jerk-face," smirking as Sasuke turned around leaving his back to the Hyuuga and revealing in all its glory the giant ass Uchiha fan on his back, "What baka?"

"Nothing at all Sasuke-chan." Her smirk widened into a grin at his angry eyes and nodded to the Hyuuga. "Well, let's get going then, wouldn't want to miss the exams just for being late now would we?"

A glare was directed at her from her other two teammates and she merely let her grin widen before turning around and heading off to continue on to the correct room.

Inside of the room that the two had previously been guarding, two puffs of smoke enveloped the 'gennin'.

"So, that is famed Copy Cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi's prized team? Gai's team too, well it's good that they passed the unofficial first test."

The smoke cleared away to reveal two chuunin looking like older versions of the fake gennin that had guarded the door. "This'll be fun don't you think Izumo?"

"Definitely Kotetsu." A smirk lit the two's faces as they shared knowing looks and disappeared.

With Team 7 they wandered through the halls, they came upon a rather large room, two wooden dummies in place to fling the kunai and shuriken at. As the group wandered through the room and were nearly ready to exit, they heard a yell from the balcony above them.

"Hey, you! The guy with the black hair!" Sasuke turned around smirking widely. "Will you fight me? Right now?"

"A fight right here?"

Lee nodded, "Yes." The spandex clad gennin leaped down and stood in front of Sasuke. "My name is Rock Lee. When asking someone's name you should give your own first correct…Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke's smirk grew wider, "Feh. So you know my name? What of it?" A snort was heard behind him and he turned to glare at his teammate. "Something funny dobe?"

"Just that you always try to flaunt the fact that you're an Uchiha, and here is someone who knows who you are, still wants a fight, and you act like your name doesn't matter. That he just wants to fight you because you're just _so_ talented."

Lee looked between the two bickering teammates and raised his eyebrow slightly. "My dear flower blossom, do they fight like this often?" Sakura shuddered slightly.

"First off, I'm not your flower blossom. My heart does and always will belong to Sasuke-kun. Second, yes, they always fight."

"That is most un-youthful of them! Teammates should not fight like this." Sasuke sent a glare to Kinmuku before he turned around. "Well, let's get on with our fight shall we?"

Kinmuku shook her head. "Oi, teme. There isn't enough time for you to get your ass handed to you right now, despite how fast I'm sure Lee-san could make it. Besides, you don't know what will happen in the first test, or after it."

Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, "I can beat this kid down quick enough."

"In the ten minutes we have left? I don't think so dumbass. Let's go." She grabbed hold of the back of his overly-large collar and tugged him along. He fought to get out of her hold and she whispered harshly back to him, "Stop struggling, right now teme. I will use force on you if I have to."

"Let me go, I can walk on my own baka." A snort was his reply, "Without trying to go back and engage Lee-san? I doubt that but fine, if you get us disqualified for the exams be my guest." She released him, dropping him unceremoniously onto the floor before continuing on her way. Sasuke grunted as he hit the ground and glared at his teammate's back. Sakura turned an angry eye over to Gingitsune and opened her mouth to yell at her.

"Why did you do that to him!? You could have let him stand up and let go! Why did you drop him?"

"He told me to let him go. I let him go. Now let's go before we are disqualified." She continued on her way, not even turning around as she addressed Sakura. As they came up upon the end of the hall they just about pushed open the doors when Kakashi appeared in front of them in a poof of smoke.

"Yo! So I see Sakura came too, good, that means you can continue on." He nonchalantly shrugged and motioned them forward. Sakura shook her head, "What do you mean Kaka-sensei?"

"This test can only be taken by whole teams, which means all three of you would have had to come to take part."

"You said that the choice of this was individual, did you lie to us so that we wouldn't have pressured Sakura into coming?"

"Now, if I would have told you that, surely either you or Sasuke would have pressured her into coming so that you could take the test. If Sasuke would have asked you Sakura, you would have surely gone, regardless of whether you felt you could do it or not."

Sakura looked disgruntled, as did Kinmuku, "Hatake-sensei, I myself was ready to just skip this exam, I don't feel we are quite ready yet, but you never know till you try right?"

Kakashi nodded his head, "Go on ahead now that you know."

The group of gennin nodded and stepped carefully through the double doors and into the room where a flood of killer intent shot them.

The gennin swallowed nervously and began to walk carefully into the corner, but a loud voice and a blur that attached itself to Sasuke's arm stopped them immediately.

"SASUKE-KUN! I've missed you so much; it must be so horrible to be on a team with forehead and that yellow-haired bitch."

A cough interrupted her and she turned her head to see Kinmuku glaring darkly at her, "I've been standing here this whole time. You know this. Yet you still say things that will get you killed?" Her eye twitched and Ino stuck her tongue out at her. "Like you could do anything to me."

Another voice came after her, "I'd watch what you say Ino, we don't know just what Rin would do." It was the lazy drawl of her teammate and they heard the grunt of agreement from Chouji.

A white puppy came running between them and crashed into the silver-haired girl, bringing her down onto the ground from the sudden impact. The young pup brought her team to attention at the lack of the silver-fox that always seemed to be with her. "Rin, where did Mashiro disappear to?"

"She's got an infection on her leg, she'll be better soon, but for now, she's bed ridden. Now, Akamaru, can you please get off of me?" She lifted the puppy off of her and set him on the ground next to her and scowled playfully at Kiba who reached out a hand to help her up.

Grasping the offered hand she hoisted herself up and smacked Kiba on the shoulder and laughed. "Keep that pup of yours down Kiba." He merely grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before laughing.

"He hasn't seen you for awhile; he's bound to be excited." He motioned the dog towards him and lifted him up before placing him in his jacket. The rest of the teams merely looked at each in slight confusion, the two had never acted close before, why were they acting like they were now?

Just as they were about to ask, a boy, in purple and white clothing with silver hair and glasses walked up to them. "You kids should be more quite. You're just straight out of the academy correct? Screaming like school girls, tsk, this isn't some kind of picnic."

Sasuke scowled at him, "And who do you think you are?"

"Yakushi Kabuto, but instead of asking my name, look around you." The gennin did as they were told, noticing the glares being sent their way. "Those ninjas over there are Kiri, they are known to have extremely short tempers. Everyone here is nervous, so pipe down before you start something."

"I suppose I can't really blame you, you are only little rookies after all. You remind me so much of myself when I was a rookie in these exams."

"Kabuto-san," Sakura said quietly, "Is this your second time?"

"Iie, this is my seventh." He saw their eyes widen and narrowed his eyes when he heard Sasuke scoff, "You must suck then."

"The exam is held twice a year, so it would be my fourth year," He grinned somewhat smugly as Sakura added in, "So that means you know a lot about these exams?"

He nodded, whipping out a deck of cards he lifted one up, "I'll share some info on these exams with you, with these nin-info cards." He began to explain to them the cards, "They are basically cards upon which I have burned information onto with my chakra. I have four years of information, about two-thousand cards."

He placed the card onto the ground and knelt down in front of it, he channeled his chakra into the cards and the card began to spin. A graph appeared upon the card and bars rose up from areas on the card marked with the insignia's of the villages upon them.

"Do you have cards with individual's information on them?" Sasuke questioned.

"Heh, of course, anyone you have in mind?"

"Rock Lee, Sabuku no Gaara, and Byakuya Rin." The rest of the rookies looked mildly surprised at the last name and said gennin let out a low in-audible growl.

"Aw. You know their name, that's no fun." He sighed and whipped off three cards from the deck. Taking one he placed it on the ground and channeled his chakra into it. "We'll start with Sabuku no Gaara. Mission record, 8 C-Ranks, and wow! One B-Rank as a gennin! Since he is a newcomer and a foreigner, I don't have much info on him, but it says that he has returned from every one of his missions without a scratch.

"Next is Rock Lee, he's a year up, mission record is 20 D-Rank and 12 C-Ranks. His sensei is Maito Gai, his teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Higurashi Tenten. His taijutsu is way beyond any other gennin that I've seen, his other skills however, are abysmal. This is also his first time, like you guys.

"Now, Byakuya Rin, isn't she your teammate?"

"Just read the card." Sasuke snapped.

"Hai, hai," He placed calming hands in front of him before continuing on, "Alright, she was in your graduating class, graduated dead last of the class. Her mission stats would be 16 D-Ranks, 1 C-rank turned A-Rank. Her ninjutsu and genjutsu is above average, taijutsu is average, kenjutsu is far above, nearly at the same level as Lee-kun's taijutsu. Teammates are Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, sensei is Hatake Kakashi."

Sasuke growled angrily, nothing new that he didn't already know. He turned back to hear what Kabuto was saying, "Konoha, Kusa, Ame, Suna, and Oto. There are several outstanding gennin from each village…Well, except for Oto; they are a new village, just rising up. Their shinobi are bound to be weak, they couldn't get up to strong in the year they've been around."

Kinmuku whipped her head away as she heard the rushing of air past bodies, and didn't catch anything until Kabuto leaped backwards from a fist launched for his stomach. He smirked slightly but it instantly wiped away when his glasses cracked and he fell onto the ground vomiting.

"What happened!? They didn't even touch him!" Sakura cried.

The three shinobi who had appeared smirked. One had half of his face covered by bandages, a large fur like mound over his back and his arms hidden under long sleeves. Another had a tan shirt on, black camouflage pants, and black spiky hair, on his shirt was the kanji for 'death'. The last one, a girl with long black hair and dressed in 'cow-cammo' pants, a tan shirt with a 'cow-cammo' scarf around her neck. On each one rested the hita-ate with the symbol for Oto.

"That should teach you to insult Oto. Write this on your fancy little cards. The Oto gennin are guaranteed to become chuunin."

Suddenly a large plume of smoke covered the front of the classroom and a booming voice rang from inside. "Alright! Quiet down right now you useless little bastards!" As the smoke cleared several chuunin appeared. A very large man appeared in front of them, three scars stretched across his face and he let a crazy grin spread over his face. His large black trench coat billowed out his bandana ties flapped just slightly.

"My name is Morino Ibiki; I will be your first examiner in these Chuunin Exams."


	10. The first Exams!

"Normal speak"

'_Thoughts'_

"**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning Speaking"**

'_**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning thinking'**_

"_Jutsu/ Emphasis"_

"_Kanpuu Speaking"_

'_Kanpuu Thinking'_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

* * *

_Chapter 10_

_Start! The Chuunin Exams Begin!_

_Previously_

Suddenly a large plume of smoke covered the front of the classroom and a booming voice rang from inside. "Alright! Quiet down right now you useless little bastards!" As the smoke cleared several chuunin appeared. A very large man appeared in front of them, three scars stretched across his face and he let a crazy grin spread over his face. His large black trench coat billowed out his bandana ties flapped just slightly.

"My name is Morino Ibiki; I will be your first examiner in these Chuunin Exams."

_Present_

"What do you think you sound nins are doing?"

The mummified looking ninja turned his head to look at the examiner. "Gomen, we got just a little carried away." Ibiki glared at the three sound ninjas before continuing on.

"Alright, come up to the front and hand your paper into the proctor of your choosing. You will be given a number that number is your seat. Take your seat quickly, if you are not there within five minutes anyone not seated will be removed from the exams...By the way, that five minutes started when I began to explain."

The gennin scrambled to stand in front of a proctor and Ibiki smirked as he noticed that the gennin were clearly avoiding him.

"Um...Are you actually taking any gennin or are you just standing there to be scary?" Ibiki snapped his gaze downward to look at the blonde gennin in front of him. His eyes narrowed and he held his hand out. The gennin placed her paper into his hand and took the plated number he handed her. Looking at the number she smiled and walked to the seventh desk in the front row.

As most of the gennin found their seats Ibiki raised his voice, "Alright! All of you not seated, leave the room now. You did not get to your seat in the time given to you. This is the end of your Chuunin exams. If only one of your team members did not make it, the whole team fails. So, you four. Take your teams and leave."

The four gennin opened their mouths to back talk him but when Ibiki leveled a glare at them they quickly left, two people who were seated stood and followed after their third teammate.

"Now then. Allow me to explain some rules to you, questions will be unanswered and we will not repeat the rules. So listen carefully."

Sakura who had been smirking at the fact that they were taking a paper test when she heard about the rules. _'Rules? And no questions allowed to be answered? What's up with that?'_

"To start off with, you will all begin this test with 10 points. There are ten questions on the test, each one is worth a point. The test will use a subtraction system, so for example, if you miss no questions, you keep all ten points, if you miss three, you get seven points.

"Rule two, this is a team test, your passage or failure is based on your overall team scores. So each team is competing to see who can get the closest to thirty points."

Sakura's head snapped onto the desk and Sasuke's head nearly followed her example. Sakura stood up angrily, "Hold on! I get the whole point subtraction system, but why the hell is this a team test!?"

Ibiki glared darkly at her, "Shut up, you have to right to question what I do. So sit down, and shut your mouth. There is a reason for this," As Sakura lowered herself down and Ibiki continued, "Now, most importantly, the third rule. During this exam, anyone that is caught cheating will be deducted two points. So, there will be several of you that during the exam, you will be asked to leave if you are caught cheating five times."

Sasuke's mind began to race, _'There has to be some sort of catch here. Back at the academy, if we had cheated then and were caught, we were immediately kicked out. So what is with this weird point system? Unless...' _The rules finally made sense and he nodded to himself.

Ibiki examined the room slightly before nodding to himself. _'So, some of the gennin are actually able to figure this out. Good, they're not total failures.'_ He smirked before raising his arm. "You may start now!" He hollered startling the gennin. They quickly began to work after getting over their shock from Ibiki. But as the time passed agonizingly slow for a fair few among the gennin, such as a few gennin from Ame, Konoha, and Kusa. Other gennin, like Sakura and Sasuke quickly got to work, using their brains and blood respectively.

Kinmuku stared at the test blinking slightly before looking up at Ibiki, then the proctor in her row and back to her paper. She shook her head slightly trying to clear her head. _'What is the trajectory angle and speed needed for a kunai to strike a target 50 meters away, with a wind speed of 20 miles per hour? What kind of question is that!? How in the hells way should I know that!? I'm not a freaking braniac like Sakura!' _She gripped her head in anger and began to fiddle with one of the piercings in her ears.

_'Okay, these rules that he gave us has to have some stupendous reason. I just don't get this thing. I don't have a single person around me that I can cheat from. If I hadn't come up to Ibiki I could have gotten a better spot! But nooooo. I have to be a decidedly stupid person that isn't afraid of the big guy!'_ She shook her head angrily and placed her forehead down on her desk. She squeezed her eyes shut and placed her arms over her head letting out a groan.

_'Damn it! Fine! Whatever! I'll wait on that last question. If I can't answer that, then I'm totally screwed!'_

Taking a deep breath she attempted to calm herself and managed to momentarily pull it off, just slightly. She placed her head on her arms and set her eyes on the clock. There was about 15 minutes left till the tenth question was going to be asked. Blinking slowly she registered that before flicking her eyes over to look at Ibiki. She heard a 'thunk' sound behind her and she lifted her head and looked behind her to see a kunai imbedded in the paper of the gennin that sat behind her. A voice called out to him, "Number 21, you fail. Take your teammates and get out."

He stood up slowly as did his two teammates and quietly stepped out the door. The next ones to be sent out however weren't nearly as quiet. They were sent out not a minute later, and thus began the quick train of eliminating team after team. Finally the 15 minutes ended with only about 38 teams left.

"Congratulations to you remaining. Or maybe not. You are now going to be issued the final question. But with this question, comes special rules designed especially for this question. This question is a do or die question."

_With the Jounin-sensei's_

"It really is rather boring without the little gennin to annoy eh Asuma?" The silver-haired sensei asked. The man who he sat across from, and who he had asked the question to smiled.

He wore the standard jounin uniform with a small belt wrapped around his waist. It was a white cloth with a red circle in the center. Inside of it was the kanji for 'fire'.

"Well you shouldn't have to worry too much. You'll be busy enough again here soon."

"Oh? Now why would that be?" He asked his one eye watching him in amusement.

"I heard that Morino Ibiki is the first examiner." He said smirking. He lit up one of his cigarettes and took a long drag on it before blowing out a smoke ring.

"Hm... I suppose you're right, they will have a hard time getting past that sadist."

"Sadist?" The woman of their group, a woman with long brownish-black hair the fell down her back in waves. She had ruby red eyes and lips to match. Her body was covered by a red attire along with several bandages.

"Ah. Right. You are a rookie jounin Kurenai, so you wouldn't know about him. He's a pro at what he does."

"A pro huh? Who is he?"

"Head of ANBU Torture and Interrogation. Special Jounin Morino Ibiki." Asuma said smirking. The way he did it sent chills down Kurenai's spine.

"Why on Earth, would they let the head of torture and interrogation take part in an exam like this!?" She exclaimed. Kakashi smiled his eye smile before answering her, "Ibiki is a specialist in the way of the mind. He can crack people without hurting them physically. Not to say that he doesn't. I mean, Anko is his colleague, so he doesn't have to all that often. But when she's not around and physical torture is need. Ibiki does a damn good job of it."

His words made all three of them look out the window towards the academy, all sending a silent prayer to Kami so that their gennin may make it through the first exam.

_Back in the classroom_

"The first part of these rules. It is for you to decide first of all whether or not to take this question." He could easily see that several of the gennin's mind had already started to roll. One Suna gennin decided to voice her opinion on this rule.

"Chose whether or not to take it!? What the hell kind of rule is that!? What happens if we decide we don't want to take this question!?"

Ibiki stared back calmly at her, "If you choose to not take this question, your points will immediately be dropped to zero. And then you and your teammates will be immediately kicked out."

Several gennin stood up. "Then of course we're going to take the question! What the hell are you trying to pull!?"

"I'm not finished yet," There was warning tones in his voice that was clear, 'sit down and shut the fuck up, or you will be removed immediately.' Seeing that they had finally settled down he continued on, "As I was saying before I was interrupted," he stared pointedly at the Suna Kunnochi who had stood before continuing, "There is another rule. If you decide to take this question, and you answer it incorrectly..." He paused and the tension rose among them.

"You will loose your right to ever take the chuunin exams again."

Kinmuku's head snapped up to stare at Ibiki unbelieving. He had to be kidding. She shook her head before standing up quickly. "What the hell are you talking about!? There are several other gennin here that have taken the exam before!"

Ibiki glared at her but she merely returned it, refusing to back down. He chuckled darkly at not only her actions but at what was occurring around them. "Yes, well. You guys were just unfortunate enough that you got stuck with me for a first examiner." He smirked at their outraged looks.

"But I am offering you a way out of this. Those of you that aren't confident enough, or courageous enough to take this question may drop out. You can take your teammates with you and try again next time around."

He smirked as he saw several gennin already thinking about what he said. "So, let's start this question. Those of you that wish to leave, please raise your hand. Once your number has been confirmed take your teammates and leave."

Finally there were a few tense moments and a hand rose shakily in the air. "I...I won't take it!" The gennin shook his head and a few tears fell from his eyes. "I'm sorry guys, I just can't take it!" Two other gennin stood up. The proctors called out their numbers and they quickly walked out the door. Shammed of their teammate.

Soon after that several gennin began to stand, giving into the pressure that was in the room.

Kinmuku's hand twitched slightly, she knew that Sakura more than likely was not ready for this. It began to raise itself and she willed it down, her hand however had other plans and continued on its steady climb. Finally it pulled her body up with her before slamming itself and her other hand onto the table.

Her mouth began to form words that she made and attempt to will down, still, her body seemed to refuse to listen to her. "Cut the bull crap! You can't do that! None of the Kage's of the countries here would agree to that! You can't fool us, so just get on with the question already!"

The rest of the gennin stared curiously at her and she pushed herself down into her seat, her body finally deciding to comply with her. Ibiki smirked as he looked around the academy room. After the silver-haired gennin had made her exclamation any of the gennin who had been planning on raising their arm and giving up had lowered their arms or had looks of defiance in their eyes.

"No one else wishes to drop out? Not any of you?" When he was met with their silence he sighed inwardly '_Interesting gaki there. Just a few words and all their worries and fear have been dispelled...78 left...much more than I really expected. She'll have far too much fun with this.'_ He shook his head before smirking and bowing his head."Good decision. To all of you who remain in this room...I congratulate you on passing the first Chuunin examination." His words were met with wide eyes and stunned silence.

Finally, Sakura broke the silence. "Wh-what the hell do you mean!? We already passed? What about the tenth question!?"

A wide smile spread over Ibiki's face. "There never was such a question. Or, I suppose if you really must have one, that two choices that you had to pick from was the final question."

Temari stood up her shoulder shaking because of how irate she was, "Then what was the point of the other nine questions!? They were pointless!"

Ibiki's smile wiped off his face and he glared at her, "They were not pointless. They have merely served their purpose already. They were there for us to test your information gathering skills. As the rules explained, success on this test was based on the teams overall performance. It puts pressure on each of the members of a team so as not to mess up and ruin their teammate's chances. But the questions were not things that a mere gennin could answer. Thus, most of you came to the same conclusion. You had to cheat to even have a shot at passing. So basically, the point of this test was to get you to cheat."

He paused and looked around the room, confirming that they were taking this in before continuing on. "As cheating targets, we place two chuunin plants in the room. Just to help you guys out." He smirked. The gennin had begun to talk amongst themselves as he spoke. He heard snips of one pair's conversation, "It sure was tough as hell to find that guy." His fellow gennin merely nodded his head answering with an, "I know."

"Those that cheated poorly, failed of course." He began to untie the bandana that was covering the top of his head and he let it fall away to reveal the heavy scarring atop his head. He heard several gasps and a few gags but continued to talk, "Because sometimes, information is more important then life. And on missions, and on the battle field. Someone will risk life and limb, just to get their hands on any information on the other side."

Kinmuku took in the scars, burns, and holes atop his head in sadness. The people that did that to him, ruthless monsters they were. She shivered and looked down at her hands, trying to imagine them ever being able to do that to someone. She could only grimace at the thought and look back up as Ibiki continued to speak.

"I want you to remember this. Any information in your hands can and most likely will be vital, it can be the most powerful weapon in yours and your comrades arsenals. So we had you gather information, this made it easy to separate those that had the skills for this, and those that did not."

Temari spoke up again, "How does this relate to the final question!?"

Ibiki smirked, "Question 10 is the most important question on this test. It is the "life or death" question. To take it, or not to. Those that chose the latter fail along with their teammates. Those that choose to take it could lose the chance to ever take the test again, it is the ultimate leap of faith. How about I put it like this. Say you guys all become chuunin, your mission is to steal a document. Inside is the amount of ninja, their skills, etc. It is unknown to you. And, of course, traps could be set up all around you. Now, the question is, do you take this mission. Or do you chose not to? Because you don't want to die, you don't want your comrades hurt, can you truly avoid this mission?"

He paused and looked around at them. "No, you cannot avoid this. No matter what happens, whether or not you take this, someone will go on this mission. The ability to be courageous, to survive through the trouble. This is what you need to become a chuunin captain. Those that can't put their futures on the line, that cling to the possibility of 'there's always next year.' Those that can only make cowardly decisions. They don't have the right to become chuunin!"

He paused looking over the gennin, his gaze hovered over Kinmuku and he smirked, "Those that chose to take it; that put their entire future on the line. They have been allowed to continue on." He smiled slightly, "You have made it through the beginning, and you have beaten the first part of the chuunin selection exams. So, I wish you all luck."

His eyes flicked over to the window and a tan blur flew through the window shattering it. Two kunai flew out and the blur finally stopped. A woman stood in front of a banner with several kanji across it. "Yo! Maggots, this is no time to be sitting around! I am your second examiner, Mitarashi Anko! Let's go!"

Many of the gennin were staring at her. She was clad in a black mesh body suit that ended mid thigh, a small mini-skirt covered just the bare minimum of her lower half. A pair of bracers were resting on her legs and her feet were clad in black shinobi sandals. A tan trench-coat covered her. But was left wide open for all to see. Her purple hair was clipped and spiked out all over the place after the clip.

"Follow me!" She yelled pumping her fist into the air. Ibiki coughed into a closed fist and she turned to look at him. "Bad timing Anko. You're early."

She shook her head and looked out into the gennin counting them. "...78. You let 26 teams pass!? This test was _way_ too easy!"

Ibiki shook his head, "Their are a lot of talented gennin this time around Anko."

"Bah! Whatever. I'll cut them down to half in this next exam!" Anko smiled darkly. "I'm going to quite enjoy this. I'll explain everything once we've changed places. Follow me."


	11. Exam 2, a Preliminary, and a Revelation

"Normal speak"

'_Thoughts'_

"**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning Speaking"**

'_**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning thinking'**_

"_Jutsu/ Emphasis"_

"_Kanpuu Speaking"_

'_Kanpuu Thinking'_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

**I AM BACK BABY! YEAAAAA THAT'S RIGHT! BE PROUD! **_**TWO YEAR**_** ABSENCE AND I FOUND THE WILL TO WRITE AGAIN! WOOT WOOT!**

So I finally went back to start editing my former chapters. I feel like a damn idiot. There was an unbelievable number of mistakes. So, please go back and re-read those, they are actually a bit different, took out the crap about Gingitsune/Kinmuku. Waaay to confusing. So she just has a name that she uses for out in public. So, again, feel free to go back and re-read them.

_Previously_

She shook her head and looked out into the gennin counting them. "...78. You let 26 teams pass!? This test was _way_ too easy!"

Ibiki shook his head, "There are a lot of talented gennin this time around Anko."

"Bah! Whatever. I'll cut them down to half in this next exam!" Anko smiled darkly. "I'm going to quite enjoy this. I'll explain everything once we've changed places. Follow me."

_Her Story_

_Enter, the 'Forest of Death'!_

_Chapter 11_

Kinmuku let out a bored sigh as Anko lead the teams to the ominous 'Forest of Death'. Pft, it was nothing more than a confined area of extremely large animals and other ninja's.

As Anko's voice called her away from her thoughts Kinmuku sighed and refocused upon the scantily clad woman. "So, I'm going to need you to sign these consent forms so that Konoha is not left responsible in case you die in the process of this exam."

A laugh was heard out in the crowd and Anko's head snapped over to the little blonde girl standing out in the middle of the crowd. "Something funny brat?"

The twerp had the nerve to let her smile widen and opened her mouth, "Well, as a matter of fact Mrs. Examiner, yes, I do." Her smile widened even further to a grin that threatened to split her face in half, "Just the fact that you think any of the good teams out here are going to die." Laughing darkly she stuck her tongue out and blew Anko a raspberry.

"Watch yourself brat. My kunai here might just slip out of my hand and catch you in the throat."

"I'd like to see that Anko-san." The grin faded and she became serious, but Anko could still see the glint of humor in her eyes.

"Whatever gaki. Alright, I need those forms in 15 minutes. Once all are in we will begin handing out scrolls, you will then move to your assigned gate and wait to enter the grounds."

With that the teams dispersed into sections to talk about signing their forms. Team 7 went over to a large tree and sat, Sakura was seated between two large roots of the tree; Sasuke stood off to the side his arms folded over his chest, and Kinmuku sat away from both of them glaring fiercely around at the people too close for comfort.

"I've already got mine filled out. What about the two of you?" Kinmuku's voice shocked the other two, she hardly spoke to them unless they were on missions.

Sasuke let out a puff of air, "Obviously I've done mine. Sakura?"

"I've done mine as well Sasuke-kun, so since we've all already done that should we try to come up with a strategy? We need to know what we're going to do, what if we get separated?"

"If we end up splitting up we'll each show something that no one else knows we have. Sakura, Sasuke what do you have?"

Sakura looked shyly down at her hands and fiddled with her gloves. Sliding off her left glove, she lifted up her hand and showed them a pink scar that curled around her ring finger. "No one knows about this, I genjutsu it when I'm not wearing gloves so no one has ever seen it."

Kinmuku nodded, "Alright, Sasuke what do you have?"

The Uchiha glared at her and pulled a kunai from his holster, "There is a small Uchiha Crest wrapped up under the binding on the handle. It shows with a little pressure from the holder."

Again the girl nodded and Sasuke glared, "So what do you have?"

Scowling slightly she shucked off her jacket and lifted up her shirt, "When I mold a little chakra this tattoo shows up, it's chakra sensitive and is tuned to only my chakra." A small swirled symbol appeared on her stomach and allowed both members to see it before cutting her chakra flow. "Good enough?"

The other two nodded and relaxed for their final few minutes of peace before a five day hell. Within minutes Anko had called up all the teams to a small private booth and handed out scrolls. Team Seven returned from the booth with a Heaven scroll and Kinmuku began to troll for possible targets with Earth Scrolls.

She spotted a team quickly and actually managed to walk past them and snatch their scroll while replacing it with a dummy. Strolling away to join her team she didn't inform them of their complete scroll set, however managed to convince them to let her hold their own scroll.

As their gate opened with a clang the three gennin speed into the forest before coming to a clearing where Kinmuku quickly slid to a halt, making the rest of her team do so as well. "We already have a complete scroll set. Shall we head to the tower?"

Sakura and Sasuke looked at the girl amazed, "And how is it that we have a complete set?"

"I stole one before the exam started. Another team was pretty careless and I stole their scroll. They never noticed and it's not against the rules, so, why not?" Kinmuku grinned, "So let's get out of here before we get caught with our pants around our ankles."

Sakura nodded, but Sasuke glared at her un-happily. "And why did you keep this from us?"

"Because I knew one of you would have made a scene, why deal with that when we can just get there on the first day?"

Sakura nodded, "Alright, let's go. I don't want to be in this creepy forest longer than I have to be anyways."

Grudgingly Sasuke nodded in assent and the three gennin sped back up and were flying through the trees and coming up on the tower at an amazing rate. Within the second hour of the exam's beginning the team came up on the tower.

Entering they were greeted by a board on the wall and Sakura, seeing the two missing words suggested that they open the two scrolls. Seeing no other options Kinmuku and Sasuke quickly slit the seal and threw them towards the wall. They were greeted by the akward site of Kakashi in the middle of reading Icha Icha giggling and blushing crazily.

"Sensei….?" Sakura questioned, "What are you doing here?"

"Holy Shit! How are you three here so soon!?"

Kinmuku smiled, "I stole a scroll before the exam actually started. We just came here right after."

Kakashi nodded, "Good thinking then Rin."

"So what do we do now?"

"You can practice for the next five days or relax if you'd like. But don't wear yourselves out too much. The next part of the exam is soon." With those last words Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke giggling once again.

Kinmuku looked at the other two gennin and let out a yawn. "Wellll, seeing as we've gotten here in a good span of time I think I'm going to go find a room to crash in and then I'm going to go train. What say you two?"

Sakura nodded, "I think I'll do the same Rin. I could use a good day of sleep. What will you do Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke grunted, "I'm going to find some where to train then I'll go find a room. I don't want to have to deal with either one of you." He turned on his heel and stalked off, hoping to find a suitable training area.

Rolling her eyes at his attitude Kinmuku stretched her arms above her head and let out a sigh of contentment as her spine popped. "I guess I'll see you in a few hours Sakura." Turning away to leave the girl to herself she took a few steps forward before being greeted by the ever eccentric Mitarashi Anko.

"Congratulations Team 7. We have never had a team complete the course as quickly as you three. Care to tell me your secret to success?"

"I'd really rather not Examiner-san. Trade secret." Winking one blue-gray eye at the purple haired kunnochi Kinmuku trotted away humming an amused tone. Once again however her way was blocked by the examiner.

"I'm afraid we have to assign rooms kiddo. We have a room for every team that can possibly pass. And since your team was the lucky ones to come in first, you have the pleasure of getting the largest room. How's that for luck?" The woman smiled a mean grin and Kinmuku rolled her eyes.

"Coming Sakura? This crazy bitch has to show us which room we get. And I'm sure you'll go find Sasuke to tell him where we'll be staying the next five days so you'll need to come along. Because I'm sure as hell not going to show you myself."

Scowling at her fellow kunnochi Sakura quickly fell into pace along side her and the examiner. As they passed through a large room however the team could see Sasuke going through a few movements, obviously trying to recreate something that he had seen.

"Sasuke-kun, we're being shown to our room. Would you like to come?" Sakura called down to the disgruntled teen.

Letting out a huff about his training being ignored Sasuke nodded and leaped up to the platform to join the three women.

Within minutes the team reached their room and almost immediately Kinmuku leaped to the bed closest to the window. "This one is mine. Don't even try taking it." She hissed to the other two earning a laugh from Anko.

"Having a bed by the window probably isn't the greatest thing. You'll see things happening out there that you may not like you know."

She turned and glared at the purple haired woman. "Does it seem to you like I care Anko-san?" Her eyes glinted fiercely and she flopped down on the bed mumbling to herself about 'purple haired bitches thinking she can't take care of herself'.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the normally stotic gennin. Picking a bed close to the door Sakura set her pack down and eyed her fellow Kunnochi. "Must you be such a pain in the ass Rin?"

A low growl was her reply and once again Anko let out a sinister chuckle. "Get some rest kiddies. And by the way, Uchiha, the practice area is three doors down the left. There is actual training gear in there so you don't have to fight imaginary opponents."

"Hn," Was the only reply she received so she rolled her eyes before exiting the room. The door quickly reopened however, "By the way, dinner is in three hours. Be punctual or you won't get food."

Snapping the door shut behind her the two Kunnochi let out contented sighs and the one brooding shinobi merely rolled his eyes. Setting his own pack down on the floor by the only remaining bed Sasuke exited the room to continue his training.

Sakura let her eyes trail after him wanting to follow. And a few moments later she did leaving Kinmuku to herself. The young gennin grinned into her mattress and let out a sigh. Rolling over she grinned upwards at the ceiling, excited to have arrived so quickly.

Sitting up as she felt her pack and sword dig into her back Kinmuku let out a sigh. Pulling one strap over her shoulder she shucked off the pack and set it on the floor next to her bed. It was followed by her katana that was gently lifted over her head and set to lean up against the wall. Looking out the window she looked into the dark forest and grinned as she saw the second team draw close to the tower.

The team was that one from Suna, the one with the crazy red head on it. Bolting out of bed she headed down the stairs and flew past the large arena-like room and past the area where she could hear Sasuke training. Landing in the area where she knew the team would enter she stood at the top of the platform grinning madly. The doors clanged open and the team of three walked in.

Blood hung heavy in the air, and she knew the scent of it came from the red head. Her grin grew wider.

"Congrats on making it here so soon. Not soon enough to be first, but second isn't too bad now is it?" The grin she held threatened to split her face and the elder two gennin became frightened. They knew she wasn't talking to them, and worse yet, she was _taunting_ Gaara of all people.

"You may want to shut your trap kid. You may end up dead before you even have the chance to blink." Kankuro grounded out, and was surprised and more than a little worried when he heard dark chuckling emerging from the girl's mouth.

"I'm terrified cat-ears." The grin was gone from her face and she stared at him, her chilling stormy blue eyes daring him to try something. Anything.

Gaara watched the girl carefully, something about her was different. Powerful. Lifting his head he met the girl's eyes and allowed a brief moment of surprise to light his face as he found himself looking into onyx black eyes instead of the cold storm blue of earlier.

"You are of interest to me Byakuya Rin. We will fight and mother will taste your blood." His face was expressionless as he spoke and monitored the kunnochi's reaction.

"I can't wait," she hissed "To wipe the floor with you and show you that your 'mother' has _nothing_ on my 'father'." Her onyx eyes bled to red just around the pupil to reveal that it was not circular like a normal human's, it had become a thin black slit, like a fox's.

A dark grin had spread onto Gaara's face and his siblings backed away close to the wall, his sand popped the cork on his gourd and began to slide out.

"Shall we fight now Byakuya Rin?"

"Well now Gaara, I'd love to." Her grin revealed her teeth, extended canines poking over the bottom of her lip. Grasping the railing she tensed to leap over and meet her fellow gennin in battle when Anko appeared.

"Hey now. Did I forget to mention it to you when you got here or back at the beginning? There will be no fighting until everyone is here. Fighting of any kind other than sparring will get you disqualified immediately."

Gaara lost his grin and he simply looked at the instructor, looking as if he had to debate whether or not to follow her instructions.

Kinmuku however backed down almost immediately. "Understood Anko-san." She released her grip on the hand rail and took a few steps back. "We will continue this later Gaara-san." Turning her back she began to head towards the training room when she heard Gaara's voice.

"Are you too afraid to fight me now Byakuya Rin? Are you weak enough to let one woman stop you?"

The Kunnochi froze in mid-step and looked back over her shoulder. "No. If I really wanted to fight you right now I would Gaara. I have more important goals to consider however. I can not afford to lose here because of one stupid boy." The reply was snarled and although her eyes were no longer that frightening onyx color she continued to have the slit pupil.

Without another word she removed herself from the area and headed to the training room. Sasuke was viscously attacking a dummy that would fight back by twisting and turning at swift speeds. Sakura sat off to the side entranced by Sasuke's training.

"Why don't you get some training in yourself Sakura?" Kinmuku's voice surprised the young Kunnochi and made her turn her head to the side to see the other gennin. The sun-kissed girl was intently watching Sasuke's movements and seemed to be breaking them down.

It seemed that moments before Sasuke would let out a hiss of frustration Kinmuku would shake her head and make a 'tsking' sound. Obviously fed up with just watching the girl jumped over the railing separating any observers from those training and leaped at the dummy a few over from Sasuke's own.

The whip that both of her teammates had forgotten she had (along with the author) slid down her arm and into her hand, and lengthened considerably with a small spike in chakra. Twisting her body and flicking her wrist at what seemed like random times to Sakura's untrained eye the dummy's flexible arms were soon pinned to its sides. Letting out another burst of chakra Sakura could see a light blue sheen appear on the material of the whip. Tugging slightly the dummy simply fell apart.

Sasuke who had stopped to watch the mysterious girl let his mouth drop open slightly. "How did you do that!?" Kinmuku's eyes snapped open, and instead of seeing Sasuke's angry eyes as she expected she turned in the direction of the voice to see Sakura standing and gripping the railing angrily.

"Years and years of training Sakura. Would you like to learn how to at least use a whip? I have a spare in my pack, if you would like to learn."

Slack jawed Sakura nodded and Kinmuku simply let a small smile grace her face. "I'll go fetch it." Leaving the area for a few moments the golden-haired girl returned within moments with a medium length whip curled up in one hand.

Then, the real fun began as she taught the finally eager Sakura.

_Five Days Later_

"All of the scrolls have been collected. Multiples from the same team in a few cases. Seeing as it is impossible for any others to enter the tower we will now begin the next round in our Chuunin Exam."

Seven teams had made it. Of those seven teams one person had dropped out when given the option. Kinmuku surveyed the teams assembled. All of the 'Rookie Nine' had made it, along with Matio Gai's team. Gaara's team had obviously passed along with the team from sound and one no-name team from Konoha as well.

A sickly man was presiding over them. He carried a small sword on his back and was obviously stronger than he seemed.

"We would like everyone to move into the rafters once the first two names are chosen." He motioned to a large screen that was emerging from behind a wall. As names flashed by it finally landed on two. It was Sasuke along with one of the no names from Konoha. In a matter of minutes Sasuke had defeated the other ninja, despite his weird ability to suck chakra from his opponent.

A moment later the next names had been decided, Ino against Sakura. With her few days of training in the whip Sakura easily bested Ino. She was an incredibly quick learner after all.

The next few fights continued on with nothing incredibly interesting. Hinata and Neji's fight was rather shocking but Kinmuku was not entirely amazed. Finally it came to her fight, and she grinned, she got to fight Kiba.

Leaping down from the stands quickly followed by Kiba, they headed to the center of arena. "Ready to fall dog-breath?"

"Only if you are fox-face." Kiba grinned and as soon as the proctor dropped his hand the two were attacking one another. Within minutes the fight was over. Kinmuku emerged victorious and she laughed grinning before shaking hands with Kiba. "Good effort dog-breath."

The fight between Lee and Gaara was by far the most interesting and Kinmuku let out a deep growl of hatred as Gaara crushed Lee's arm and leg. She shook her head in disgust and looked away from the sight of Lee trying to continue fighting.

The final fights passed un-interestingly and the remaining competitors returned to the floor.

"You will each draw a number from the box that Ibiki-san is holding. Anko-san will come by and you will tell her your number. Once everyone has picked a number we will put together the finals list and you will see your position."

Each gennin removed a number and earned a position. In the first round it would be Gaara vs. Sakura, Temari vs. Dozu, Kankuro vs. Neji, Shino vs. Sasuke, and finally Kinmuku vs. Shikamaru.

"You all have one month to train. Be ready to face your opponents by then and meet in the arena where the annual Kyuubi re-enactment is held. Off with you all!" As the groups of gennin dispersed to speak to their Jounin instructors Team 7 remained where they were.

Kinmuku held her hand out to Sakura, "Congratulations on the good fight Sakura. See if you can get your own style down for the whip. I won't have time to teach you anymore, all you needed is the basics and you've got that. Work hard on it." Sakura nodded, surprised to hear any sort of praise from her.

Finally Kakashi walked over to congratulate his team. "Good work. I'm proud of all three of you. You're rookies that have managed to do what is nearly impossible, passing your Chuunin exam on the first try. Sasuke I'll be training you during the break. Sakura you'll be working with Kurenai during that time, Hokage-sama isn't sending anyone out on new missions so she'll have plenty of time to work with you."

He looked at Kinmuku to see her fidgeting. "Obviously I haven't set training up for you Kinmuku."

"Yea I know, Otoji and Oba will teach me. Can we go now sensei?"

Kakashi nodded smiling at her obvious enthusiasm. "Fine, get out of here." The blonde gennin grinned and disappeared in moments. Reappearing a few seconds later she had her pack and sword on her back and was rushing out the door. Kakashi made a movement to stop her and escort her back with the rest of her team but was surprised to see her disappear via shushin.

"Well…it would've been nice to know she could do that…" Kakashi shook his head and turned to the other two gennin. "Well should we get on out of here?"

With those few words the three ninja headed out of the tower. Sakura went home to take a long hot shower and say hello to her family before she went to train with Kurenai. Kakashi took Sasuke home with a promise to meet him in the morning. Sasuke would have to pack for a three week journey and they would begin training.

Kinmuku arrived home moments after her shushin and let out a long sigh as she stepped through the gate and into the garden. "Tadiama!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. A grin spread on her face as Tsunade, Jiraya, and Danzo's heads appeared before the former two rushed out and grabbed their granddaughter.

"So, how was it gaki?"

"Pretty good. I made it to the final round. But I had to see something that I would rather never have to see again. Speaking of which, Oba-san, can I get you to help with something? You have to do it as yourself though, we can't use the genjutsu." She had a frown on her face as she thought about Lee's accident with Gaara.

"A kid got hurt really bad in the preliminaries. His life revolves around Taijutsu because he can't use jutsu. This kid named Gaara….he crushed his arm and leg. Can you please try and heal him? I don't want him to have to go through life without being a ninja. It is everything to him."

Tsunade nodded, seeing the conviction on Kinmuku's face. "We'll go in two days, you'll have to help me heal him though. And we may have to reveal who you really are, if I'm seen in public with you by the Sandaime he'll know within seconds who you are. Are you willing to risk that?"

The girl looked sternly at her Oba-san. "I would do anything to keep someone from losing their dreams Oba-san."

Tsunade smiled, "Good answer Kin-chan. Now why don't you go in and get some rest, we'll talk tomorrow about what we have to do to heal Lee-san up and then we'll get to work."

Kinmuku nodded, "Otoji, I think it's about time you reveal yourself to the world again. I get a bad feeling about the finals, I think something is going to happen…"

Jiraya nodded, "I got that feeling too. It's about time I started up my research in Konoha again." He let a perverted grin spread across his face before Tsunade hit him upside the head.

Kinmuku let the two elder ninja do their play fighting as she trudged inside letting out large yawns as she headed up a set of stairs towards her room. She passed by Itachi's room and peeked her head in. "Guess who's back." She smiled and winked at him shutting the door before he could react to her.

She kept going even though Itachi had called to her and slipped into her room. Mashiro leaped into her arms nearly toppling her over in her eagerness to get to her master. Laughing lightly Kinmuku collapsed on the bed and allowed Mashiro to lick all over her face. Hugging the creature closely to her body she let out a sigh of contentment and let her eyes slip shut.

Within minutes she was fast asleep.

_Two Days Later_

The whole day before Kinmuku and Tsunade had been studying up on total nerve damaging and crushed muscle and bone tissue. They had finally found a way to heal the boy up and were on their way to the hospital where Lee was being kept.

Having to walk through the busy mid-day streets Tsunade decided to wear a simple henge till the two managed to get to the hospital. It remained that way until about a minute away from the hospital. As Tsunade stepped into the hospital with the strong blonde Kunnochi following behind her there was several amazed gasps from the staff.

"Tsunade-sama has returned!" Was the standard comment.

"Yes, I'm here because I heard of an unfortunate case from my charge. I need to see Rock Lee."

The nurses nodded and lead the way to Lee's room. As they entered Tsunade made a concerned sound. "That's a pretty nasty wound. Is the boy conscious?"

"Y-yes m'am. I am awake. Why are you here?" Lee's voice was feeble but very aware.

"My charge and I are going to heal you. I'll have to put you under alright?"

Lee nodded and within minutes he was no longer aware of anything that was going on. A pair of nurses moved him to a stretcher before moving him to an operating room. Kinmuku began to write out seals on the floor and as soon as they dried the nurses set Lee in the center of the seal.

"We'll need two exchange nurses. One for me, and then one for the other nurse. My charge will be able to handle herself, make sure to have a soldier pill on stand by for her though."

The two nurses nodded and then stepped out of the room. They returned with the two nurses with the largest chakra supplies and most experience. Within minutes Tsunade and Kinmuku had sat down and began the healing process. An hour into the process Tsunade switched out with the first nurse. 15 Minutes later they switched out again. The second nurse managed to last 45 minutes and Tsunade retook her position and they finished out the procedure.

Kinmuku was breathing heavily and popped the soldier pill into her mouth. The two switch out nurses shook hands with Tsunade and gave Kinmuku a pat on the back, "Congrats kid. You have some monster stamina to manage what you did."

The nurse that had lasted longer turned to Tsunade, "Tsunade-sama. Hokage-sama is outside waiting for you."

Tsunade sighed and nodded. Putting one arm around Kinmuku's shoulders to support the worn gennin the two Kunnochi exited the operating room and Lee was returned to his room. Sarutobi sat a mere 10 meters away on a bench waiting for Tsunade.

"Welcome back Tsunade it's-" He cut off what he was saying as he saw the golden haired girl standing next to Tsunade. "You. What are you doing here?"

Tsunade straightened. "Hiruzen. This is my charge, we were here healing the unfortunate case that is Rock Lee."

"You took _her_ in. She killed Minato and she killed Kushina!" Sarutobi shouted standing up ready to attack the gennin at her side.

Tsunade looked coldly at him. "As a former student I'm going to tell you this now. She is a hard worker. Minato has made peace with her. The winds atop the mountain no longer roar. Let it be Sarutobi." She snapped. "I came back here only as a favor to her. Don't make it so that I never return to Konoha. With or without this gennin's pleas."

Sarutobi glared darkly at the young girl but she took it in stride. "Hello Sarutobi-san. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. You've known me as Byakuya Rin for the past six months or so. I would prefer it to stay that way if you don't mind."

Sarutobi was shocked by the girl's formality. "You will not win me over so easily child."

"I plan not to. I simply want our relationship as superior and subordinate to remain as it was before you realized completely who I am. I am aware that you had suspicions. Let them remain that if you would please Hokage-sama." She turned took Tsunade's hand and the two exited the hospital leaving a stunned Kage in their wake. It would be nearly three weeks before anyone caught sight of the strange golden haired gennin again.


	12. The Wait and the Product

"Normal speak"

'_Thoughts'_

"**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning Speaking"**

'_**Kyuubi/ Greater Demon/ Summoning thinking'**_

"_Jutsu/ Emphasis"_

"_Kanpuu Speaking__"_

'_Kanpuu Thinking'_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. I do however own this story, disclaimer, and any OC's within.

**Main Pairing: **Ita/Kinmu, one-sided Sasu/Kinmu

_Her Story_

_Chapter 12_

_The Wait and the Product_

* * *

_Previously_

Sarutobi glared darkly at the young girl but she took it in stride. "Hello Sarutobi-san. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. You've known me as Byakuya Rin for the past six months or so. I would prefer it to stay that way if you don't mind."

Sarutobi was shocked by the girl's formality. "You will not win me over so easily child."

"I plan not to. I simply want our relationship as superior and subordinate to remain as it was before you realized completely who I am. I am aware that you had suspicions. Let them remain that if you would please Hokage-sama." She turned took Tsunade's hand and the two exited the hospital leaving a stunned Kage in their wake. It would be nearly three weeks before anyone caught sight of the strange golden haired gennin again.

* * *

_Three Weeks Later_

"Kakashi. It is good to see you back. Where did young Sasuke go?"

"He went to go meet his teammates for lunch. He's finally learning to accept people for what they are. Sakura contacted him as soon as she found out she was back. How she managed to find Rin…I don't know about that one."

Sarutobi froze at the mention of the blonde haired girl, recalling the events that made it so Rock Lee could walk again. He would soon be back to training, and he couldn't be happier that he had managed to keep a hard working shinobi under him.

"Kakashi…I'm sure you've heard of how Tsunade returned and managed to take care of poor Lee, correct?"

Kakashi nodded his head. "I am also aware of what you're probably wanting to tell me next. Rin is sensei's daughter. I found out about it while I was off with Sasuke. She showed them the seal as a way to confirm her identity if they got separated during the exam. Sasuke questioned me about chakra sensitive tattoos."

Sarutobi eyed Kakashi carefully. "You seem fine with this. Why is that?"

The silver-haired jounin shook his head. "Simple, I ran into Jiraya immediately after I came back and I asked him if he knew sensei's daughter was still alive. He came right out and told me. Tsunade, Jiraya, and Danzo have all been living with her since she was a child. I questioned him about the boy living with them as well and he told me it was just a straggler they had picked up in their time living at the house."

Sarutobi shook his head. "All this time two of my sannin have been only hours away and they never bothered to drop in and say hello."

Eyeing his leader Kakashi said "It may because of the fact that you hate Rin-chan so much. From what I heard from Jiraya Minato-sensei made his peace with her years ago, his spirit did at least. Kushina-sama never hated her in the first place. What you've done is inexcusable Hokage-sama."

The Hokage looked shaken. "Now, if you don't mind me. I'll go join my team for lunch. It sounds quite appetizing." The jounin smiled and poofed out of the office.

_Barbeque Restaurant_

"…Kurenai taught me so much about genjutsu and she wanted me to teach her a few things with the whip that she hadn't seen herself. Kinmuku, you said you taught me only the basics!"

A light twinkling laughter came from a booth in the restaurant and Kakashi smiled. He had to admit that Kinmuku had quite the amazing laugh, so much like Kushina-sama's.

"You got the basics down in a day Sakura! That was one thing you've done that amazes me. I had to teach you something else so I taught you a few moves that I'd come up with."

Kakashi came up to the table to see Sakura blush, it was so rare she got any sort of praise from the tough blonde. "Welcome back Rin. I understand you've disappeared for a good three weeks."

Sasuke looked over, surprised to see his sensei done with speaking to the Hokage so quickly. "Kakashi, didn't you have to report what we'd done over the three weeks to Hokage-sama?"

Kakashi shook his head, "No, he had something entirely different he wanted to discuss." His one eye shifted to look at Kinmuku. "Rin, I'll need to talk to you after lunch."

The girl narrowed her eyes but nodded.

"Sensei, why don't you join us for lunch? Unless this delicious food is too low for you dining pleasure." Sakura giggled as Kakashi rolled his one eye and seated himself next to Sakura. It hit him then, Sasuke was seated next to Kinmuku and Sakura didn't seem the least bit angry that the girl managed to sit next to her 'beloved Sasuke-kun'.

"So, Rin, what did you do over your break?" Sakura asked. "You've heard from both me and Sasuke."

Kinmuku laughed that twinkling laugh again and Kakashi laughed inwardly as he saw Sasuke's eyes warm slightly. "I went to go visit Shijimi-sama in the capital. Shin-onee-san stayed up there and is coming back down for the exam. I learned an amazing new jutsu and otoji let me sign a summoning contract."

Kakashi smiled, "What's the summon?" Unwilling to satisfy his curiosity Kinmuku shook her head. "Can't tell you sensei. You'll have to see for yourself."

Kakashi nodded, "I suppose the same goes for this amazing jutsu."

She nodded and let a wide grin spread across her face. "Anyways, I have to go here soon, I'm meeting up with Ita-kun. Haven't seen him since before we left; he didn't earn the marvelous pleasure of coming with us. Kakashi-sensei you wanted to speak with me?"

The silver-haired man nodded and Kinmuku nudged Sasuke. "Mind letting me out Uchiha-kun?" She playfully batted her eyes at him and Kakashi nearly laughed out loud as he saw the look on the Uchiha's face.

Sasuke bolted out of the seat and Kinmuku smiled. "Thank you." Sliding out of the booth she stood up and smoothed out her plated skirt. "See you guys in a few days." She waved to her teammates and headed out the door with the much taller jounin at her side.

Stopping a few feet away from the door Kinmuku turned around and Kakashi began what he knew what would be a rough confrontation.

"Do you want to take this to somewhere more…private?"

Kinmuku shook her head. "Nothing you could say would really surprise me sensei."

"Alright then….Kinmuku, it's nice to finally meet you." He held his hand out and was honestly surprised when her hand met his within a few seconds.

"I knew you'd figure it out soon enough sensei." She had a wide grin on her face. "When you didn't figure it out after you came to the house I figured I'd have to give you a nudge. That's why I showed Sakura and Sasuke the seal."

Kakashi shook his head, amazed at the ingenuity of the golden-haired girl in front of him. "When are you planning on revealing yourself?"

Kinmuku smiled, "Once Sarutobi is dead. I don't need him announcing that I'm the Kyuubi container now of all times. Who knows what would happen then."

Kakashi nodded, understanding. "I'll let you go meet your friend then."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei!" She let out a burst of laughter and turned around running away.

Kakashi headed back inside to check in and see how Sakura's training had progressed while he was gone.

After a few minutes of running Kinmuku came upon where she knew Itachi would be waiting. Seeing him leaning up against the wall of a building she slowed and trotted over to him. "Ita-kun!"

Itachi's head snapped away from what he had been looking at to the direction in which he had heard her voice. Not having the time to really register her he managed to catch the black and gold blob that was his favorite gennin.

"Welcome back Kin-chan." Itachi's voice was like silk as he spoke softly in her ear and Kinmuku shivered. She recalled the kiss they had shared months ago and looked up into his dark eyes.

"Can we go home now Ita-kun?" Her voice was soft and gentle and Itachi nearly melted at the sound. He hadn't seen her in three long weeks and they hadn't left on the best terms.

_Three Weeks Before_

"You tried to fight the psychotic sand-nin that did that to Lee!?" Tsunade's voice was high and shrill. "That child opened the gates and still wasn't fast enough to hurt him!"

Itachi stood off to the side, next to Tsunade, looking at Kinmuku disappointed. "Are you trying to get yourself killed before you can even get going in life?" He asked, hurt by her actions.

Jiraya stood next to Kinmuku. One hand on her shoulder. "Do you know anything about this sand-nin Itachi? If not you wouldn't understand. Tsunade you know what he is but you don't understand the bond between people like him and her!"

Kinmuku was looking down sadly at her feet. The only person in her family on her side was Shin and Jiraya. Shin because he knew how the girl got when she met what seemed to be a very good prospect and Jiraya because he knew about the Jinchuruki bonds.

"Oba-san…I won't say I'm sorry. I'm not. I wanted to fight Gaara, I still do. I can't help that!" She looked up from her feet and there were the traces of tears in her eyes. "You don't understand the reason for it, that's not my fault. But whether you like it or not I'm going to fight him."

Her eyes lit up with anger as she saw Itachi shake his head. "You don't understand Itachi. And I don't care anymore. Otoji, onee-san can we please leave now?" The two nodded and they turned heading off in the direction of the capital. Tsunade and Itachi said nothing as they left, but Itachi couldn't help feeling hurt. She had only called him Itachi twice in his life.

"She'll be understanding when she returns. I know she will," Tsunade said watching the blond girl walk away.

_Present Day_

"Of course we can Kin-chan. Come on." He pulled away from her enough for her to get back on her feet. She backed up a bit but Itachi grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders he walked her back towards the house.

Feeling his arm around her shoulders Kinmuku couldn't help letting a small smile spread across her lips. She loved Itachi, she really did. As they grew closer to the house Kinmuku slowed a bit. Making Itachi slow with her until Kinmuku finally came to a stop.

"Itachi…I'm sorry if what I said before I left hurt you. I'm still not sorry that I said it though. You can't understand the bond between us Jinchuruki. None of the Biju have ever been close. But the bond between Kyuubi and the Biju that Gaara-san contains…they would fight all the time. When I met Gaara, Kyuubi went crazy. When it was just me and him…alone in that room…" She trailed off.

Itachi's eyes hardened. "You were in a room alone with this boy? We researched him while you were gone. He's a monster, he is always attacking and killing people even in his own town."

Kinmuku glared darkly at Itachi. "His family was with him. And did you really call him a monster?" Her eyes were bleeding red and Itachi shivered.

"Kinmuku, stop you're letting Kyuubi out."

"I don't really care Itachi," she hissed "Never call another Jinchuruki a monster. Not in front of me. I am no different from the rest of them." She stepped away from him growling darkly. "Go home Itachi. Tell Oba-san that I'll be back in a few hours."

Stalking off into the forest Itachi made a motion to follow her into the forest when he saw a column of fire burst from the top of the trees and froze. _'Why is she so testy about this?'_ Itachi shook his head and headed off towards the house.

"Where is Kinmuku?" Were the first words out of Tsunade's mouth.

Itachi looked down. "I apparently said something to upset her and she ran off into the woods." He heard a low growl from Jiraya. "I did not mean to do it Jiraya!"

The toad sannin shook his head angrily. "When she gets back here…leave her alone until she comes to you. If I have to forcibly do it I will. She doesn't need to be hurt anymore."

Itachi opened his mouth to reply when the door slid open. Kinmuku stepped through the door quickly followed by Mashiro. "Oba-san, it's good to see you again." She walked over to Tsunade without even glancing at Itachi.

Tsunade stood and embraced the young girl. "I'm sorry Kinmuku." The blonde nodded and stepped out of the hug.

"I'm going to go up and sleep Oba-san, it has been a long day. Good night." She bent over and gave Jiraya a kiss on the cheek along with Tsunade and headed up the stairs.

Itachi made a move to follow her but was stopped by Jiraya. "I told you. Leave her alone."

_In Kinmuku's Room_

Sitting on her bed Kinmuku let out a long sigh. "Mashiro, keep guard at the door please." The silver fox nodded and Kinmuku let her eyes slip shut and entered a meditative state.

"_Welcome back young one. It is wonderful to see you again. Are you ready to begin your training with Tsukiyo? You have finished my training and it is time your water training was begun._

Kinmuku nodded smiling. "Arigato Kanpuu-sama. Tsukiyo-san, what do you have for me to begin with?"

The Kyuubi grinned darkly.** "Hell."**

Kinmuku shivered before letting a huge grin spread across her face. "Alright then. Hell it is."

By the time morning rolled up Kinmuku had finally pulled out of her meditative state and let out a groan. "Mashiro, Tsukiyo is a bastard isn't he." The silver fox let out a low hiccupping sound that was her version of a laugh.

"_Kinmuku, you must forgive the Uchiha boy. He doesn't understand your position. I know what he said last night hurt you, but you know that you love him despite it all."_

'_I can not do that. Not now. He knows what he said was horrible. Until he resends it I will not forgive him.'_

Kinmuku shed the clothes she had been wearing the day before and pulled on a fresh new set. Putting on some fishnet stockings she pulled on a black platted skirt that was red inside of the plates. She slipped into a tight red halter top that revealed much of her back and stopped right above her stomach.

Sighing she stepped over to the small mirror she had in her room and placed a small amount of black eyeliner just below both eyes and put mascara on. Pulling her long blonde hair back into a bun she placed two red chopsticks in to hold it in place. Taking in her looks she picked up the small tube of cherry lip-gloss and spread a small amount over her lips.

Smiling she pulled on a pair of fishnet gloves and quickly began to place all 6 sets of her earrings in along with the barbell and belly-button ring. Finally satisfied with her looks she slipped into a pair of knee high black stiletto boots and nodded to Mashiro. Grabbing a small black purse she put the eyeliner and lip-gloss inside of it along with her wallet, Gama-chan. Stepping outside of her room she passed by Itachi's open door, but empty room before heading down the stairs. Seeing Jiraya sitting at the table she grinned.

"I'll be back for dinner Otoji. All of the Rookies are going out to celebrate. We're going to say hello to Lee and then head out."

Jiraya nodded. "Alright Gaki, are you taking Mashiro with you?" The blonde nodded smiling and even as they spoke the fox blurred into sight.

Sitting at the counter was Itachi and he drank in the sight of the blonde. She looked amazing with how she was dressed up. He stood and went over to speak with her when he caught sight of Jiraya glancing at him with a look that said 'don't even try it'.

Kinmuku let out a small laugh as Mashiro twirled around her feet yipping. "Well, I guess I'll see you in a few hours Otoji." She grinned broadly and stepped out the door. Striding out into the garden kind of floating around it in her heels and plucked a beautiful red rose and wove it into her hair.

Waving towards the house she shushined herself and Mashiro to town.

_Konoha_

"Hey dog-breath." The voice startled Kiba and he whirled around. "Shut up fox….face?" Kiba seemed incredibly confused by the sight of the blonde girl.

"Well don't you look hot. When did this happen?" He grinned lecherously and didn't notice Sasuke's eyes flash darkly.

Shikamaru glanced over to the girl who was usually the outcast and let out a low whistle. "Man, you are one troublesome girl, do you have any idea what kind of problems you'll cause dressed like that?"

Kinmuku only grinned. "Ready to go see Lee-kun?" The group of kids nodded and they all headed up to the hospital. As they walked in they saw Team Gai walk out.

"How is he?"

Gai grinned. "Much better. Tsunade-sama herself came and healed him! They say he'll be able to walk to the stadium to watch the exams."

Kinmuku smiled, "That's amazing Gai-sensei. We were just going in now to say hello."

Gai smiled again. "It is amazing to know that Lee-kun has friends that blaze with the flames of youth!"

The group had a collective shiver. "I will let you go now. Lee-kun's health with help fan your flames of youth!"

Finally the group of teens managed to get into Lee's room. The youth had tried to get back into his green spandex but the nurses had put a stop to it before he could really get into it. Kinmuku smiled, "So Lee, I heard Tsunade-sama fixed you up. How's it feel to know that someone cares enough to fetch her?"

Lee smiled widely. "It is an honor to know that Tsunade-sama would be willing to heal a random shinobi like myself."

The group of teens smiled and shared a few stories of their time training. After having spent an hour in the room with Lee they finally decided to act on their earlier plans.

"Who's up for a break on Hokage Mountain?" Everybody nodded their agreement and the nine gennin strolled along chatting happily about who they thought would win what matches or how they would go down. Reaching the top the kids stretched out. Mashiro and Akamaru ran about chasing one another yipping and barking.

Kiba couldn't help laughing nor could Kinmuku. Within moments the whole group outside of Sasuke and Shino were laughing. After settling down the group finally laid out in a large circle content to watch the clouds roll by. Finally the sun began to set and the group had all sat back up and were watching the colors in the sky.

Kinmuku had Mashiro resting in her lap and Kiba was sitting close to her trying to impress her with what training he had done while she had been gone and to convince her he was ready for a rematch. Away from the rest of the group Sasuke watched as Kiba tried flirting with Kinmuku and growled low in the back of his throat.

He didn't notice how distracted the girl was however as he tried to flirt with her and after the sun had finally set she was the first one standing. "I have to get back home guys. I promised my Otoji that I'd be home for dinner."

"Aw, Rin-chaan, can't you break your promise just this once?" Kiba whined.

"Sorry Dog-breath. No can do, I'll catch you guys in a few days." She waved and disappeared down the mountain. When everyone else got up and finally reached the bottom there was no sight of Kinmuku or her fox.

_Back at the Uzumaki House_

"Tadiama!" The voice was cheerful as she stepped through the door. But she lost her grin almost as soon as she walked in. Itachi was sitting at the table and she searched the house for other signatures. No one.

"Kinmuku. I need to talk to you." He stood up and walked over to her. She didn't make it easy on him however stepping back onto the porch. "Kin-chan, please."

The sun-kissed girl looked darkly at him. "Care to rescind your comment about Gaara being a monster? Cuz I'm afraid that I won't speak to you till you do."

Itachi sighed and leaned against the wall. The hammock swayed gently in the breeze. It hadn't been used since the girl had become a gennin, not by the both of them anyways. He remembered when they would lay there and count stars or watch clouds roll by.

"I didn't mean to offend you when I called him a monster Kinmuku. But do you know anything about this boy? He has killed innocent civilians, children even."

Kinmuku sighed. "I know. But no one can be a true monster. I actually got to talk to him, we both contained the blood lust. We're going to fight when it gets down to it. When the chuunin exams finally start again it'll be me and Gaara in the finals. You can't stop that Itachi. But you can stop yourself from calling him a god damned monster!"

She glared darkly at him and he stepped up close to her putting her back to the wall. She had no options, he blocked her escape route as did the wall. "Kinmuku, I'm sorry that my calling him a monster offended you. I won't do it again, I promise."

The golden haired girl looked deeply into his black eyes with her own storm blue. "Fine. Do you mind moving now?" She had a very faint blush on her cheeks and Itachi let a small grin enter his eyes.

"But I'm really enjoying this Kin-chan. Do I really have to move?" He let a small smile flight across his lips, leaning in closer he whispered, "Besides, I've really missed getting to be this close to you. We haven't used the hammock since you became a gennin."

Kinmuku shivered. Itachi's minty scent washed into her nose and his breath tickled her ear. "Ita-kun…Oba-san and Otoji…they could come back any second…I…I don't think so."

Itachi shook his head and kissed her exposed shoulder blade. "Tsunade and Jiraya went out to Manubi's about ten minutes ago and after that they're gonna go drinking. They won't be back till tomorrow morning." He kissed her shoulder blade again and moved up to her neck.

"I-Itachi…wh-what are you…" the Uchiha moved from kissing her neck and placed his lips over hers, silencing her. Almost instantly the gennin in his arms melted kissing him back. After a moment she pulled away shaking.

"I can't do this right now Itachi…"she looked down at her feet still clad in black stilettos. "I…I don't think you're thinking straight. It's the outfit. It's confusing you…" She tried to push him away and succeeded.

"Kinmuku…" his voice was slightly hurt. "That's not it…"

The blonde shook her head. "Think things through Itachi...at least wait until after the exams finish. Please." She had a look on her face that Itachi couldn't refuse, he wanted to but he just couldn't.

"Kin-chan...why?"

"Ita-kun...I just...I need time. I'm not going to just rush into things with you after you hurt me as badly as you did. I want this Ita-kun...I really do, and I have since you first came to live in the house with us. But after what you said the other day...it still hurts and I need time."

Itachi sighed but backed up. Kinmuku looked sadly at him but slipped into the house. She went immediately upstairs and slipped into the bathroom.

Turning the hot water on she slid out of her clothes and stepped into the shower. As she started to scrub her scalp she couldn't help crying. Washing hair and body she shuddered with held back sobs.

Finally finished in the shower she turned the water off and leaned her forehead against the wall. Tears slid down her face and she slammed a fist against the wall. Stepping out she wrapped a soft black towel around her body and stepped out of the bathroom and walking into her room.

Shivering, she decided to forgo clothes and let the towel drop onto the floor and slipped under her covers. Under the safety under the large black blanket she let her sobs escape her body. When a knock came from her door Kinmuku tried to quiet her sobs. Standing she slipped into a pair of soft fuzzy pants and pulled a jacket over her head before walking over to the door.

Cracking it open she saw Itachi standing outside. "Can I come in Kin-chan?" The girl closed her eyes and shivered. "Ok." Her voice was soft and she allowed the door to swing open to allow the young man in. He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Kinmuku...it's the anniversary of the day I came to live in the house which means it's the anniversary of my family's death..." He trailed away and looked deep into her eyes. "Do you mind if I stay with you tonight?"

The blonde shivered, cold despite the warmth of her clothes and nodded. Walking to her bed she pulled the comforter to the side and slid under it. When Itachi slipped in beside her Kinmuku let a small shudder of pleasure run up her spine. It felt…right for him to be there next to him. She couldn't turn to face him however, too scared of the emotions he would see in her eyes.

"Good night Kinmuku. Sweet dreams." His voice whispered in her ear and she shivered violently. Thinking she was cold Itachi pulled her in to him and let his chin rest on top of her head as he began to sleep.

The warmth emanating from Itachi engulfed Kinmuku and she felt herself drifting into sleep. The silver fox that was always nearby the blonde girl had curled up at her feet on the bed, and in the morning, when Itachi awoke. Kinmuku was not in the bed.

He stretched and rolled out of the bed before stepping out of the room. He was clad in only a pair of black shorts with red stripes down the sides. Stepping down the stairs Itachi found Kinmuku at the stove flipping pancakes. Strolling up behind her Itachi wrapped his arms around her hips and whispered in her ear "Ohayo Kin-chan."

He felt her tense and kissed her on the cheek. "Relax. I know Tsunade and Jiraya are not back yet, and Danzo is still in Konoha keeping up appearances."

"That is not why I am tense Itachi-kun. I told you last night that I will need time." The Uchiha sighed but tightened his grip for a moment before releasing her and stepping back. He seated himself in a chair at the table to watch the gennin cook. Once she had finished the pancakes she placed one plate in front of him and placed one for herself.

They ate in silence before Itachi finished and stood stretching out. Itachi smirked slightly as he noticed Kinmuku eyeing him. "You look so much different than Sasuke does. He's all pale and looks like he doesn't do any real hard core strength training."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at her, "And when have you seen my otouto without a shirt on?"

When she blushed Itachi couldn't help growling slightly. "On the mission to Nami. He was walking out of the bathroom as I was walking in."

Itachi rolled his eyes and nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a voice behind him. "I hope the two of you didn't do anything while we were gone."

"Oba-san!" Kinmuku cried trotting over and giving Tsunade a hug. The two chatted for a few minutes before heading outside to begin the final bits of training.

_Day of the Final Exam_

The contestants had gathered together in the center of the arena and were surrounded by the roar of the crowds. Only one of the gennin had not shown up. Dozu.

"If Dozu of the Sound does not arrive in the next five minutes he will be disqualified." The proctor announced, a strange man with a senbon in his mouth.

The crowd quieted down and the next five minutes passed agonizingly slow. Finally the time came and the proctor announced Dozu's disqualification.

"The rules in this exam are the same as those in the preliminaries. There are none. But if a competitor forfeits or gives up during their match it will stop. If I deem the fight over you will stop. The only other way for the fight to end is for death or knock out. With that being said will everyone but Haruno Sakura and Sabuku no Gaara exit the arena and head to the competitor box."

As the seven gennin headed to the competitor's box Temari grumbled about the loss of her opponent.

Down in the arena Sakura shook with fright. She had seen what Gaara did to Lee. As the proctor raised his arm to begin the fight Sakura shook even more harshly.

"Proctor I give up!" She shouted not willing to risk her life against Gaara. The red headed gennin glared darkly at her but she was shaking so badly that she didn't really care.

The proctor nodded, understanding of the girl's reasoning. "Shousha, Sabuku no Gaara." The crowd groaned sadly at the loss of a good fight.

"Sakura–san, please exit the arena and join the civilians and other ninja in the stands. Gaara-san, please join the other competitors in the box."

The red-head glared darkly at the proctor but nodded and began a slow ascent up to the booth. "Seeing as the next match was supposed to be Temari against Dozu we will move to the following match. Would Sabuku Kankuro and Hyuuga Neji please enter the arena?"

Within a minute the two contestants were in the middle of the arena. Neji had a rude smirk on his face and Kankuro looked rather serious for once. "Let's get this over with quickly."

As soon as the proctor's hand dropped Neji was flying at Kankuro. Sliding left and right attacking the tenketsu in his hands to stop him from using his puppetry. As Kankuro tried to form the chakra to create strings to control his puppets he found himself totally unable. "Proctor, I forfeit, I can't mold chakra for my puppets."

The proctor nodded, "Shousha, Hyuuga Neji." The Hyuuga shook his head and spat in the direction of Kankuro. "Weak. I can't believe I had to waste my time fighting scum like you."

"Out of the arena Neji-san, Kankuro-san." The two glared at one another before Kankuro headed into the stands to join the ninja and civilians. Neji moved up into the competitor box while Sasuke and Shino headed down.

Once both Shino and Sasuke had reached the center of the arena Genma raised his arm began the match.

Instantly Sasuke leaped back and Shino released a swarm of bugs. As Sasuke saw the bugs begin to swarm towards him, so as to drain his chakra, he began to flip threw handseals.

"_Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu"_

The swarm split trying to avoid the fireball. Only a few escaped however and Shino allowed a brief moment of panic. None of his bugs were proofed against fire. Flipping backwards trying to avoid another attack like that Shino thought threw his possibilities. Almost all of the Uchiha's jutsu would be fire based. If he continued to send out his swarm to fight he would lose them all.

Coming to a decision to save his bugs above rising in rank Shino raised his arm. "Proctor I can no longer continue!"

The proctor nodded and ended the match, "Shousha. Uchiha Sasuke." The crowd roared their approval as the Uchiha ended his match swiftly. Despite the fact that Sasuke had won by forfeit in the peoples eyes he had won a well earned battle.

"Would Byakuya Rin and Nara Shikamaru please come down to the arena." The proctor announced.

Shikamaru groaned. "Tenduksu. Why do I always have to fight the girls."

Kinmuku rolled her eyes, "Let's go Shika. Afraid you'll lose?"

Shaking his head Shikamaru would have forfeited had Kinmuku not grabbed the back of his shirt and leaped out of the competitors box. Some of the civilians in the stands screamed even as Kinmuku began to slide down the wall and released Shikamaru to fend for himself.

Pushing herself off the wall half way down Kinmuku did a few flips in the air and landed nearly dead center in the arena. Shikamaru contented himself to crash land in the bushes below him.

"Come oooon Shikamaru! I haven't got all day." The blonde gennin whined.

Sighing and wishing he could stay laid back to watch the clouds Shikamaru pulled himself out of the bushes and walked slowly to the center of the arena. After the acrobatic display put on by the young blonde many people in the crowd were looking forward to the match.

"Begin!" The proctor announced dropping his arm and nearly let out a sigh of boredom when the two ninja's just stood there.

"So, your move Shika-chan." Kinmuku said smiling amusedly.

"Tenduksu." He sighed and began flipping away making her grin even wider.

"You should know that won't do you any good Shika-kun," she sang in a sing-song voice. She seemed to blur away in front of his eyes and within a moment she had taken a place right in front of him.

Throwing a right hook towards his face Shikamaru leaned back and slid to the left. Fleeing into the trees Shikamaru looked up at the sun. _'Good, there is still plenty of time before no shadows I'll still have to work fast unfortunately. Tenduksu.' _

Jumping back as the blonde threw yet another punch he began to go through hand seals for his family jutsu when the girl disappeared in a puff of smoke. Looking back he saw her standing motionless on the opposite end of the arena.

"_Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" _The girl suddenly called and flung out her arms. Shikamaru cursed and tried to shield himself with his arms but was still flung backwards to crash into the wall.

A series of gasps was heard from the crowd and Kinmuku smirked. Quickly flying through a long line of hand seals Kinmuku called out _"Wind Style: Dragon Gust"_.

A ravenous wind tore through the arena and it sounded like the wind itself was roaring. Kinmuku hissed as she was hit by the wind as well, unfortunate but manageable, it was a few small scratches on her arms and was nothing compared to what Shikamaru earned.

The boy's shirt had been ripped to pieces and large cuts and a few small gashes littered his body. Unfortunately Kinmuku had never noticed Shikamaru forming hand seals as she cast her own jutsu and nearly froze in fear as she saw the shadow flying towards her across the ground.

Leaping to the side to try and avoid it the shadow twisted following her and she let out a yelp. Flipping backwards she managed to escape the shadow by mere inches. Hissing in the direction of Shikamaru she took a few more steps back.

Kinmuku took careful consideration of the wall's shadow and began to throw kunai and shuriken in the direction of Shikamaru so that he had backed up against the far wall were no shadows were seen.

Flowing through a few more hand seals Kinmuku smirked "This one is a special move of mine Shika-chan! Try not to worry too much though."

Those in the arena could physically feel the temperature in the area drop. Kakashi let out a small gasp of surprise escape him, the power of Ice. How had this young gennin managed to recreate something that was supposed to be only possible through bloodlines?

"_Ice Style: Frozen Life."_ Shikamaru stopped. His feet had been frozen to the ground and his hands encased in ice, stuck to the wall.

"Care to give up now Shikamaru?" The sun-kissed girl asked smiling mischievously.

"I would, but that would mean I'd have to lift my arm up and forfeit. I can't do that now can I?"

The girl shrugged and looked to the examiner. "He can't really continue, I won't unfreeze him because that could cause trouble for me. Care to call it?"

The proctor shook his head at the girl's mouth. "Shousha, Byakuya Rin."

The crowd began to roar, finally they got a good show. Up in the Daiyamo's booth Shijimi smiled. "She's come far hasn't she Shin?"

The red head standing next to him nodded, smiling. "I can not wait for her next match. I'm hoping I'll get to see how far she's come with that jutsu she was working on while she was visiting. It looked like quite the killer."

Shijimi nodded in agreement. "Yes indeed it did. It'll be nice having a well trained shinobi on the staff instead of just samurai." He laughed as Shin glared teasingly at his superior.

"The next match up will be Sabuku no Gaara vs. Sabuku Temari. Will the two please join me in the arena?"

Temari shook her head, "No way Proctor! I forfeit!" Temari yelled not caring about the groaning of the crowd. Would they ever get to see this Gaara fight? Would the Uchiha himself give up to this Gaara person?

"Alright, would Uchiha Sasuke and Byakuya Rin join me in the arena then?"

The two teammates looked at one another. "Ready to lose Sasuke?"

"Only if you are Byakuya." He retorted smirking cockily. The two decided for the express root and leaped out of the contestant's box racing to the center of the arena.

"Ha! I won Uchiha!"

"Whatever dobe. You could only wish that's what happened."

The proctor intervened, "Since you too are just itching to fight, begin!"

Both gennin flew backwards and started flying through hand seals.

"_Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"_

"_Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"_

The two jutsu's met in a large explosion and the proctor leaped back before scaling the walls to escape damage.

"_Earth Style: Head Hunter's Jutsu!" _Kinmuku called out disappearing under the ground. Sasuke wisely flipped back from where he had been standing just in time to get away from the girl's hands trying to pull him under ground.

Seeing that she missed her target the girl pulled herself out of the earth. On the wall she saw Sasuke running through a series of hand seals before clutching his hand out and forming chakra.

_In the Stands_

"You taught him Chidori!?" A voice shouted. Kakashi winced. Jiraya and Tsunade both had come to the show as themselves. The disguised Itachi, whom Kakashi still didn't know about, had gone down to the edge of the stands to watch Kinmuku's battle.

"I did, but I didn't think he would use it on her!" He shouted. Kakashi glared down at the boy in the arena and flinched as the sound of birds chirping began to fill the arena.

Kinmuku had frozen her stormy blue eyes wide with fear. Even high up as he was, Kakashi could see that she wasn't there. She was thinking back to when Haku had died.

"Wake up girl! He'll kill you!" Someone shouted from the stands. And as Sasuke began to rush down the wall, digging a trench in it, the girl snapped out of her thoughts and let out a horrible snarling sound. Leaping far to the side and rushing up her own part of the wall Kinmuku began to run through hand seals.

Sasuke, having missed his target by some way was standing in the center of the arena. Obviously trying to figure out what the girl would do next. But she was still high up on the wall, running through seals.

_Kage Box_

"You have quite some talent in your city Hokage-sama. Although, once we see Gaara-kun fight you will agree I have it as well."

The Hokage glanced over at the Kazekage. "Kazekage-sama, you may have quite the talent, but until we see him fight he is nothing more than just another gennin."

The veiled ninja nodded, "Understandable Hokage-sama."

_Arena_

The final few seals had been finished. Her eyes which had slipped closed snapped open. Onyx eyes with brilliantly bright silver and blue specks filling them up glared angrily at Sasuke.

"_Elemental Style: Dragon Arts Jutsu!"_

The crowd gasped as what had been a clear blue sky began to fill with dark black clouds. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed. From the earth a dragon of mud rose, something began to run through the trees and soon an eddy of leaves took on the form of a dragon, the air became dry as the moisture was sucked away to create a dragon of water. She released a breath of air that ignited and became a dragon of fire. Finally as a bolt of lightning went to the ground it took the shape of one final dragon.

Together the five swirled before they crashed together and became a single dragon glittering with a rainbow of color. The dragon let out a malicious roar and flew towards Sasuke, crashing into the ground right before striking him.

The resulting explosion blew Sasuke back into the wall. The crowd gasped at the display and watched the girl as she descended the wall and strolled over to the Uchiha. "Don't you dare, ever use that attack on another Konoha Ninja." She snarled into his ear.

Nodding almost drunkenly the Uchiha passed out.

"Shousha, Byakuya Rin." The proctor announced. The crowd was silent before a few loud whoops came from the ninja section and then the crowd broke into huge rounds of applause.

"Thank you, thank you." The blonde said mockingly bowing and twirling her arm. A team of medics rushed out to take the Uchiha away and passed Neji on his way out.

"You can't win against me, fate announces it so. The Uchiha was weak you may have been strong enough to defeat him but you are not strong enough to do the same to me."

Falling into position so he would be ready to launch at her once the fight had begun Neji smirked at her only to receive a shake of the head.

"Relying on fate and destiny, it's the weakling's way to go. You can't rely on your own power so you have to claim something else's power."

Neji scowled and looked at the proctor who dropped his arms before flipping out of the way once more. Neji took the girl's momentary distraction and leaped forward, fluidly striking at her attempting to close her tenketsu.

Although the Hyuuga managed to strike her, the tenketsu remained open, making Neji pause. Smirking at the Byakugan user's obvious confusion Kinmuku leaped forward knocking him down after a strike to the abdomen.

The Hyuuga rolled gracefully and flipped her off of him before jumping back to his feet. Hissing angrily Kinmuku slung kunai at Neji only to be deflected by a spinning shield of chakra. Members of the Hyuuga main house gasped, Kaiten being used by a branch house member?

"Do you like it? My ultimate defense, it can't possibly be cracked by a weakling such as yourself."

Snarling the girl leaped forward making a hand seal as she went creating multiple clones that went flying at the Hyuuga. As predicted the shinobi used Kaiten once again and as it began to slow Kinmuku moved in. Leaping in with a kunai in her hand the girl managed to pin the Hyuuga to the ground once again and held the blade to his throat.

"Still think I'm weak Hyuuga Neji?" She hissed, digging the blade into his throat drawing a small line of blood. "Tell me why I shouldn't slit your throat here and now?"

"Because the match is over. Shousha Byakuya Rin." The voice of the proctor startled Kinmuku and she removed the blade and stood up.

"You're in luck Hyuuga. You live another day." She hissed before turning up to the competitors box. A wide grin spread onto her face and a few people in the crowd shivered. The look on the golden haired girl's face was not one that could comfort a single soul.

"Well Gaara, are you ready for that fight!?" She yelled. Her eyes were alight with dark excitement and people in the crowd could feel the rising tension. In a swirl of sand the red headed shinobi had entered the arena, a strangely frightening smile was on his face.

"Mother hungers for your blood Byakuya Rin. It is time her call was answered." He said his sea-foam green eyes glinting maliciously.

"It's time your mother met my 'father'," she hissed the grin growing even wider.

In the stands Itachi looked back to Tsunade. "We couldn't stop it, we never could have could we?" He asked frightened. Uchiha Itachi, killer of the Uchiha clan, was scared of the intense hatred emerging from the arena.

"Two of them in the same place…let alone _these_ two. It won't end well will it Tsunade-sama?"

"I'm afraid not Ita-san." Tsunade whispered sadly. From beside her however Jiraya shook his head. "The two of you forget the ranking of power. They have different names, the higher they are the more powerful. She is more powerful, she won't lose. Every battle comes with injuries and the two of you know it. Accept it, besides, she wants to fight him and he her. It is not just the creatures inside of them wanting to fight. Naturally the two of them want to fight."

He took a deep breath and whispered to them both, "The children of Kage's, they are bound to want to fight one another. He may not know of her heritage, but instinctively he knows. You know how it is Tsunade. Your mother had it bad being the daughter of Shodiame-sama. Always fighting with the children of other Kages. It is nature's course."

A voice called out from the arena which had become eerily quite with the rising tension.

"Begin!"

* * *

Nahahaha! Sorry guys, till next time though :P


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